


Wings of Ice: The Rift Between

by sir_delphinium



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate History, Alternate Universe, Angst, Betrayal, Bittersweet Ending, Broken Promises, Drama, Elsewhere Fic, Grimdark Elements, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Not Everyone Gets a Happy Ending, POV Alternating, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Recovery, Romance, Slow Burn, Tragedy, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-02 04:37:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 41
Words: 114,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20270125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sir_delphinium/pseuds/sir_delphinium
Summary: Far to the south, an animus has overthrown the NightWing throne. Days later, he wipes out the entire IceWing tribe with a deadly plague...but it turns out that not every IceWing is slaughtered. From the ruins of their lost kingdom, a new world emerges, controlled by the iron fist of an IceWing leader. Dragons call it the Rift: an unforgiving land just shy of the unbearable cold of the north and locked away from the war-torn kingdoms of the south.Citrine and Sunstone are two brothers living on the run in the wilderness of the Rift. The pair of dragonets are inexperienced and vulnerable, and only a mysterious but kind IceWing plague survivor can shield them from their harsh reality. The brothers pledge to stay together until the end, but a betrayal tears them apart, landing them in opposite worlds and convincing each that the other is dead. With no choice but to move on from their broken promises, Citrine and Sunstone will have to rediscover the life they want to live, finding friends, enemies, and eventually, the truth.But someone else is still pulling the strings, and the lies go deeper than they think...Rated Mature for graphic violence and dark themes.





	1. Prologue ~ The Setting Sun

**Author's Note:**

> **Trigger Warnings: explicit violent imagery, mental health, mental illness, suicide (allusion), self-harm (allusion), general dark themes. Specific content warnings will be put in bold in the beginning notes of chapters that are the most extreme with these ideas, with summaries at the end; however, they all apply to the fic as a whole. Explicit gore warnings won’t apply to chapters with canon-typical violence, but if after reading a chapter without a warning you feel like it needed one, please let us know and we’ll add it (this goes for any kind of warning).**
> 
> Stay safe and thank you for reading ^^

~Javelina~

I crashed into the mountainside, sparks flying through my teeth as my jaw grated against my cheekbones. The pale golds and browns of my scales were bruised and battered, and my wings ached from my frantic flight. Risking a hurried glance downward, I confirmed that my youngest son, Sunstone, was still safe in the curve of my talons, if not a bit bewildered. The silver chains of my necklace were tangled among his horns.

_I still remember when Cyclone gave me that necklace as a gift._   
_How many years has it been? How many years have we been on the run?_

“Javelina, you have to fly _faster;_ they’re catching up to us,” Cyclone roared back to me. He was already only a silhouette of giant maroon wings backed by the crimson sunset.

I strained against the limits of my wings, trying to reach Cyclone before he disappeared into the clouds. As I finally caught up to him, he twisted midair to face me, and I glimpsed the terror in his eyes. I had seen the SkyWing enraged, brokenhearted, and ashamed, but I had never seen his courage shatter so completely before.

“We’re out of options. Take Citrine with you,” he said hastily, untangling our older son from his arms and draping him over my shoulders. “There’s a cave on the eastern side of this mountain hidden by gorse bushes. You know what to do. I’ll distract them, buy you some time.”

I searched his orange eyes, panicked. “But what about-”

“You have to go while you still can, Javelina. I’ll catch up.” He turned to fly back, but looked back to me one last time. “If we don’t make it out, I... Never mind. I love you.” Cyclone held my gaze for a short moment before he disappeared into the sky.

Looking back down, I couldn’t help but notice how Sunstone’s amber eyes reflected the sunset, turning them a deep shade of red, even darker than his brother’s maroon scales. My thoughts shifted to Cyclone’s plea, and I focused again on the task at hand.

_I’ll see your face at the end of this, my love. I won’t fail us._

The chill of the night air seeped in between my scales as I initiated a steep dive to the flat outcropping smothered with gorse. Citrine stumbled from my back as I landed roughly, Sunstone crawling out of the crook of my arms to hug him.

_Sunstone is only a year old. Citrine is three. Can I really trust my dragonets to keep themselves safe while Cyclone and I are gone?_   
_I have to. They’ll be fine. Citrine knows the drill by now. _

“Stay. I can’t explain everything right now, but all I need you to do is stay here,” I whispered hurriedly to Sunstone, pushing both of my sons behind the bushes and covering Sunstone with the yellow flowers. I hoped that the thorns wouldn’t scratch them too badly.

Turning to Citrine, I unhooked my amber necklace from its place around my neck. Quickly but gently, I wrapped it around his. The silver chain links glittered coldly, clashing with the dark reds and pale golds of his scales, but I still thought it was a perfect match. “Protect Sunstone while I’m gone. Do anything you have to. Promise me. _Promise me.”_

Citrine stared at me with wide amber eyes and nodded quickly, but I could see the panic written all over his face. I knew he wouldn’t break his vow, though - if my first son was anything, it was loyal. I wrapped my wings around both of them, not wanting to let go of the moment.

_Come on, you’ll see them again._

“I love you, my little springboks. I'll be back, I promise.” I smiled at them.

“Mother, w-what’s happening?” Citrine stuttered. His voice trembled slightly, and he clutched the shining orange pendant that hung from the chain.

“My dear son,” I whispered, holding his face in my claws and resting my forehead against his. “Everything will be okay. Just wait for me here with Sunstone. Remember your promise, okay? Always. I love you both.”

I had to return. I had to survive, because someone had to be there with my dragonets. They alone stood no chance against the unforgiving mountains of the Rift. Cyclone and I had sacrificed the terrible truth in order to protect them, and I wouldn’t let it be in vain. Even so, I couldn’t help but wish that the four of us had fled the Rift long ago - any hatred and prejudice in the southern kingdoms would have been favorable compared to the endless fight to survive in the ruined Kingdom of Ice. My eyes began to water as I fought the sudden tightness in my chest, and I blinked quickly, dispelling the tears.

Citrine shifted his gaze to Sunstone, who was staring into my eyes with something between confusion and hope. Could he even begin to comprehend the sheer peril of the situation? I wanted to say something, anything, but what could I say to make him understand? So I left him in silence.

I let out a quiet, shuddering sigh. Reluctantly, I relaxed my wings and took to the sky, casting a single glance back to check that the shrubbery covered them both. The tension in my body lowered slightly when I saw only gorse bushes. Turning quickly to the clouds, I sped up. The sound of wingbeats had already reached my ears, but I still hoped to lure the attackers away from the overgrown ledge.

I had flown for less than half a minute when a glacial cold engulfed my tail, and I shrieked. I looked back to find my tail coated with frost, the icy fractals marching up towards my wings. Jagged white claws tore into my back, dragging me towards the earth I’d taken off from. The ground seemed to rush toward me at an ever-increasing rate.

My skull slammed against rock. Sharp pain stabbed through my ribs, bright lights dancing behind my eyes. As I pushed myself up to stand, white claws shoved me back down again. I spotted the frost-colored spines of an IceWing’s crest glinting from behind a red mist.

_It can’t be. It can’t be her, not after all these years._   
_Cyclone said…_   
_He wouldn’t have lied. He couldn’t have known._

I had to be dreaming. It had been four years since the mission, and both Cyclone and I had escaped undetected. Knowing that I was with egg at the time, and that none of the IceWings were in pursuit, we’d chosen to give up our positions as scouts and hide the intel we’d retrieved just for the slim chance of survival. 

There was no way that any of the IceWings could have survived after the plague. Not after Icefall took the NightWing throne. No one had heard anything from them in over a decade, but here they were, polluting the Rift. The IceWings had ignored us for so long, so why did they want us erased from the narrative now?

Unless _she_ knew.

_She_ knew what we’d discovered four years ago.

I jerked, struggling against the freezing claws pushing me into the earth, but it was useless. Talons like jagged slivers of cold metal ripped into my stomach. The red fog clouding my eyes swirled thicker, and my talons clawed the dirt in weakening desperation. The tears I had been holding back spilled over the soil, disappearing into the pool of red slowly soaking the ground. My talons felt damp, covered in something hot and sticky.

_Wet? Why are my talons wet?_

What was I doing? The IceWing assassin wouldn’t stop when it was finished with me. I had to save my dragonets. I was too close to where they were hidden - they were hidden only a tail-length away behind dense leaves and thorns, and I prayed that they weren’t watching.

_What dragonets?_

A roar of fury dragged me back from the darkening fog. A blur of maroon dove toward the attacker looming over me. His scales glistened with red water in the dying sunlight, and another icy figure was closing in behind him.

_...Cyclone? ...No, you need to run...tell the tribes what we should’ve told them long ago._   
_...There’s no time..._

A liquid ruby rolled down his snout, dripping on the ground next to my face.

_Is that...blood?_

The red haze was coming back quicker than before, and my vision only came in flashes. The sounds of clashing talons and Cyclone’s roars seemed to thunder from a great distance, like a fading storm.

A disturbing tearing noise came from the direction of Cyclone, and my vision cleared just enough to see him lying in a crimson heap. A dark, coppery smelling liquid pooled from his body and spread over the ground, bubbling at the base of his throat. His amber eyes seemed to reach regretfully for me before they dimmed, like stars trying to escape the morning sun.

_We never should have stayed._

I turned towards the IceWing dragoness framed by the rising moons, my movements more lethargic than ever, and the whole world spun. Her scales looked as if they were carved from white marble and diamond, and her eyes were the empty blue of a winter sky. Remnants of frostbreath littered the mountain crag around us like a deadly, freezing constellation.

_It’s you._   
_It’s always been you._   
_Why?_

I wanted it to be a dream, but the wounds torn over my scales were far too real. The pain blinded me and left me gasping for breath. My every move seemed slower than the last, and it took a thousand years for me to finally meet the IceWing dragoness’s cold eyes.

She smiled slowly, revealing teeth stained with red, tongue flicking in and out of her mouth. Her glacial eyes pulled me in, and I coughed weakly, blood trickling from my throat. My eyes wouldn’t focus, and I couldn’t make out many of the dragoness’s features. We were never meant to be face to face. The IceWing leaned down, pressing a bloody smile against my ear. I stared into her bright, blank blue eyes, unable to move.

“Did you really think I knew nothing? I watched you from the very start. I know everything you do and more. I was the one who offered you another chance, a better life, so don’t blame me now that you’ve turned down my hospitality. I’ve heard about those dragonets of yours, so perhaps I should be asking them instead.”

_I won’t let you. I won’t._   
_Why did we ever come here?_

The IceWing dragoness’s voice echoed impossibly against the sky. “It’s alright. It makes no difference to me, as I’m sure you already know. You might be useless to me alive, but you’ll serve him well after your death.”

The world was turning dark. My talons twitched feebly, and the curses I’d wanted to scream had long since faded in my throat. The dragoness’s rasping, low laugh scraped against my ears. I wanted to cover them, but my arms were pinned beneath crushing weight.

I was drowning. The shadows in my vision had become an ocean, and the tides had finally come to rise and pull me down. The waves brushed against my chin, and I struggled to keep my head above the black water. 

My shallow breathing was interrupted as talons of ice leisurely dragged across my neck, plunging me beneath dark waters that had turned an abyssal red. I choked, the ocean rushing into my mouth.

_Or is it blood?_   
_Am I…dying?_

Death’s cold eyes faded from sight as it pulled me into her freezing arms, carrying me out to sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins :0
> 
> If there’s any typos or formatting errors, please let us know, because we hate them a lot and need to destroy them. Although this entire fic is prewritten, we appreciate feedback and criticism! It can help us with editing chapters before we post and also just help us with writing in the future/in general. Thank you :)


	2. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life was mostly quiet before Citrine and Sunstone lost their parents. Now, alone, survival in the Rift suddenly seems a lot more complicated, and the journey ahead can only get harder. How will Citrine be able to keep his promise to Javelina, his mother, and protect and raise Sunstone to be self-sufficient by the time she comes back? Is she even coming back at all?

~Citrine~

Angry roars shattered the silence as I huddled closer to Sunstone. He stared back up to me with fearful eyes. I’d given up on hiding my fear a long time ago, so I’d settled on holding my younger brother as tightly as I could while also clutching the pendant of my mother’s necklace so hard my knuckles turned white.

“What’s happening?” Sunstone blinked at me anxiously.

I gave up on trying to hide my fear and sighed, flopping my wing over Sunstone to cover him like a blanket. He curled closer, and I felt him tremble as something slammed into the ground outside. Another roar exploded from outside the bushes, and I noticed Sunstone flinch harder.

“W-what’s that noise?” His eyes welled with scared tears, and his breathing quickened. I tried not to jolt at the sound of the roars, holding my little brother tightly.

“I don’t know. But Mother said she would be okay, so don’t worry.” He was still shivering, but I couldn’t think of anything more comforting to say. A garbled scream erupted from outside the bushes, and a coppery smell filled the air. A long few minutes passed and the screams finally died out, the echoes fading quickly. I heard the scrape of something being dragged over the ground, and then, the flapping of wings fading into silence. “See? It’s gone now. We’re not in danger anymore.”

I could dimly remember something like this happening before, from when I was really little, but no matter how hard I wracked my brain I couldn’t get the details. Everything past that memory was filled with days of learning hunting and survival techniques, and moving from one location to another through the Rift. But the present was what mattered now.  
I attempted to be as comforting as Mother. “Nothing bad has happened to us before. Remember, Mother just said to wait for her, so we’re going to do that. You can sleep if you want, because I’ll protect you until she gets back.” I hoped I sounded braver than I felt.

“Okay...” Sunstone buried his snout in the fallen star-shaped flowers lining the ground. “But wake me up if you need saving or anything.” He slowly fell back asleep, leaning into my shoulder.

I wanted to do the same, but my terror hadn’t completely left me, and exhaustion was nowhere to be found.

**. . .**

I jolted awake, surprised to find morning light filtering through the leaves. Had I nodded off? I panicked, jerking up and cringing when spiky stems poked at my forehead. Lowering myself again, I spotted Sunstone a small distance away.  
Sunstone sighed and shifted slightly in his sleep, making the gorse fronds decorating his snout slide to one side. I quickly moved them back to their original position, squinting as the morning dew trickled into my eyes. Growling softly as I blinked the water from my eyes, I lifted my head carefully.

The yellow petals covering the ground looked like jewels in the morning light, nearly as beautiful as the gleaming pendant on Mother’s necklace. But where was she?

_She said she’d be back soon. She said everything would be alright._

I stood up slowly, wincing as my stiff arms creaked. Stumbling awkwardly from the yellow flowers, my eyes widened at the sight.

_What…?_

The entire outcropping had been covered in a dark, rusted red color. It seemed slightly damp and smelled slightly metallic, like iron or copper. It looked like a blot of darkness by the flowering bushes, and the scent of it made me want to gag.

Blood.

I only recognized it from a time when I’d splintered myself with driftwood for a fire, and I’d cut myself trying to dig it out of my palm. But who did it come from, and what had really happened last night? After a moment of poking at it, I returned to the bushes, hissing as the plant’s thorns pricked between my scales, causing small drops of red to seep out from between them.

_Just like the red outside...  
But Mother is alright. She said she would be. Mother doesn’t lie._

I squished myself into the gorse, tucking my barbed tail to my side. I had to keep waiting, and Mother would be mad if she found out I had left the bushes for any reason. She had to get back soon. I fiddled with the orange amber pendant of Mother’s necklace, turning the jewel over in my talons. With a start, I realized that Sunstone was glaring at me.

“Mother said not to go out,” he said fiercely. I glared back.

“Well, good morning to you, too,” I replied. “...Don’t tell Mother, okay? Our secret?”

Sunstone watched me as I settled in and he rested his head on my shoulder. I smiled at the warmth of his scales, finally relaxing a bit. Somehow, without even trying, Sunstone always lit up the darkness like a sweetly oblivious torch. Sunstone poked at the pendant, his brow furrowed slightly. I silently begged him to agree.

“Fine. But you can’t do it again, okay?”

I snorted, reassured. “Of course not. I was just curious.” I buried my head in my wings and tried not to worry about Mother. Or the blood outside.

Sunstone shoved his face into my shoulder, his breathing evening as he returned to sleep. I closed my eyes, trying to rest, but failing as my worries tumbled through my thoughts.

_Where is Mother? Why was there so much blood outside? Why isn’t Mother back yet? What about Father?_  
_Mother said that when dragons die, they disappear forever. They’ve been gone for a while now. So where did they go?_  
_Did they die?_  
_Is that why there’s blood outside?_

I held Sunstone close to me, shivering in the morning chill. The air here was never warm, and neither of our parents were close by to hug us, but we had each other. We couldn’t stay here forever, though. If Mother wasn’t back within the next few days, we would be forced to leave. And then we’d be on the move again - Father had taught me that staying in one place for long was never a good idea.

What if I would have to teach Sunstone all the survival techniques my parents had taught me? I’d always expected Mother and Father to do it, but they might not get back in time.

_What if I can’t do it all? But..._  
_I made Mother a promise._  
_I won’t fail her, no matter what. She is coming back, and Father will be with her. I can keep Sunstone safe until then._

So why did I feel so uncertain? Panicked thoughts whirred around in my head, and I left it to sleep to steal them away for the moment, my limbs finally relaxing.


	3. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated to include the fact that this is two years later from the previous chapters and also to fix formatting (September 2019)
> 
> Revised for future plot change (July 2020)

~Iceblink~

_Two years later..._

Outside the tall window behind my desk was a lake, resting tranquil in the basin of the mountain my office was carved into. The skies were clear, dotted with fluffy clouds, and the sun reflected off the still waters like a flash in a mirror. It was almost as if a puddle of sky had collected in the deepest part of the mountain - a perfect reflection, set into pale gray stone and barren rocks.

The lake had formed from snowmelt and summer rainstorms, but the water used for drinking, cooking, and bathing was sourced from the rivers in the nearby valleys. None of the dragons that wandered about the shore dared to touch the unbroken mirror of lakewater. No one would, not with the knowledge of the corpses that rested in its depths, hidden behind the empty reflection of the horizons.

At least, no one would touch those waters except for him. But he always came in the quiet hours of the night, when everyone was asleep, taking what he wanted and leaving only ripples in his wake. Even I wasn’t fully aware of his midnight visitings - but that was probably his doing, too.

My tail twitched impatiently as I lounged on my chair, my back to the window that framed me with cold sunlight. I’d rifled through the scrolls in front of me more times than I’d care to admit. Even so, the intricately carved desk remained mostly bare except for the candle resting on its corner. I pondered the thought of decoration, but the memory of shattered porcelain drifted across my mind, and my expression soured.

_I’m so tired._

The commotion outside of the glossy office door grew louder, and I began to suspect the visitor I’d been trying to ignore had gotten a little too heated with the current shift of guards outside. I closed my eyes slowly, hiding my eyeroll behind shut lids.

_I’m so tired of fighting. What did I ever think I could do?_   
_I wish they’d just go away._

The second-in-command standing to my right took in a shallow breath, and I opened my eyes to meet his gaze with a neutral glance. He looked away for a heavy moment before scraping together the courage to speak.

“Leader Iceblink-”

I silenced him with a freezing glare, the one that I’d perfected after all the years I’d spent managing these cold hallways. He cringed, wings caving in on himself, and I tasted the tiniest trace of satisfaction. Mostly, though, I was just irritated with the act.

_Useless fossil of an IceWing._   
_You were the one who said you’d support me as Leader. Did you eat all your words already? It’s you, more than anyone, who would jump at the chance to take my place and throw everything I’ve ever worked for to the wayside. It’s you, unlike any other dragon, who’s not scared of me at all._   
_If it wasn’t for your particular skill set, you’d already be dead. I hate that I need your work. Call me a hypocrite all you want, but we both know who the really impressive actor is._   
_And we both know that trash like you could never do anything as meaningful for the IceWings as I have._

I hissed quietly, straightening my back and arranging my wings and tail behind me. “Let them in,” I finally replied. “All of them. I’ll speak to the guards about their poor performance today.”

“Just a moment, Leader Iceblink. I must insist-”

“I didn’t know that you called the shots around here. I’m waiting, second-in-command. I haven’t got all day to watch you wring your talons.”

I knew it was a sore spot, and I twisted my knife into it readily, watching his subtle flinch. He’d lost his talons long ago to the Plague of Ice. I’d watched when he chewed them off into bloody mush, too infected to even comprehend what he had been doing. Now, he couldn’t even write without assistance, but he still tried, holding the brushes in his teeth and scrawling out wobbly letters on par with a young dragonet’s. It bore no traces of the refined cursive he’d mastered in the years previous to the disaster.

The Plague had not spared a single IceWing - not even me. It had jumped from one dragon to the next like rapid wildfire, and it took their sanity with it. Most went mad, screaming gibberish and killing every dragon within reach of their talons, while others let the sickness overcome their minds, usually ending up killing themselves. A few tried to wait out the pestilence and watched their own lives bleed out onto the ground in flowing rivulets of blue blood. Icefall, emperor of the NightWings and the animus responsible for the pandemic…he hadn’t wanted a single one of us left alive.

But the strongest survived. The strongest overcame the deadliest of diseases, and fear was left far behind them as they began to rebuild their civilization from the ground up. Compared to the old kingdom, the tribe was unrecognizable - only just over a dozen IceWings remained - but I took the lead and led them all back into the light, brighter than it had ever been before. New laws, new leaders, and new legends, every single one better than the last.

It had only cost me an arm and a leg to carry them so far. Even if we’d had to make peace with the hundreds of dragons from other tribes that had crawled in through the woodwork before the Obsidian Cliff had risen, it was me who’d secured control and reminded them that the IceWings were the powers that be in the Rift. I was the one who’d built the Compound that allowed dragons in the Rift to thrive, and I was the one who made sure that no one lived the useless, powerless life I’d fought so hard to break free of.

So maybe I’d had help from _him._ I was fair, and I paid the price. Even though it’d left me isolated, their fear was worth more to me than any adoration. But the growing list of names and lives weighed on my conscience during the day, and the empty rooms and memories chipped away at my sanity after dark. I wondered what exactly he did with the ones he took away; the ones I’d killed.

I sighed and refocused, staring down the rusted iron door as my second struggled to unlock and open it, the scarred stumps of his talons stumbling. When he finally dragged it open, I stood and narrowed my eyes at the commotion in the outside hallway. I stepped around the carved and varnished desk and met the eyes of my guards and the visitor they’d been arguing with. My second shooed them in quickly, shutting the door after them. I scanned the small crowd in front of me.

_Two incompetent IceWing guards, one brilliant actor of an IceWing second-in-command, and a MudWing scout who isn’t here at the standard report time._

An icy glare sent them all into submission.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The guard on the right digging his claws into the messenger’s brown shoulder spoke first. “An unidentified dragoness, Leader Iceblink. She refused to leave.” His companion nodded reluctantly, glaring at the outraged MudWing.

I said nothing, and the guards shifted uncomfortably in the freezing silence.

“I’ll speak to you later about the difference between _unidentified dragons_ and my _scouts and border patrol_. Wait outside, won’t you?” I turned to the MudWing dragoness as her captors fled out the door, closing it a little louder than I would’ve deemed respectful. I didn’t have the energy to chastise them for it as their backs turned to me. I’d watched enough dragons leave me behind, and even out of context, something still twisted in the cold hollow where my heart used to be.

_Before you took it from me and shattered it all over the floor._   
_Why do I still feel like collapsing, even at this point? He said it would get easier, but it’s only gotten harder and harder instead._   
_Still, I’ll gladly take this little bit of control._

I watched the MudWing scout for a long moment, watching her shift uneasily. “I didn’t schedule a meeting with you. Give me your name and assignment.”

“I-I’m sorry, but the guards-”

“I’ll speak to all of the guards if it’s such an enormous issue. Give me your name and assignment.”

_Three moons, just let this end quickly._

“I-I’m Caiman. Noon and dusk patrol; southwestern Rift foothills.”

I picked out her file from a cabinet under my desk, barely glancing at it before studying the MudWing dragoness again. She looked skittish. What could she have possibly seen out there that warranted an unscheduled meeting? I narrowed my eyes.

“Report.”

“There were two dragonets on the very lowest parts of the foothills, near the southern cave system and the moor.” Caiman’s gaze sank to the floor.

Well, this was news, if anything. If any of the trainees had dared to try to run off, the punishment would be severe, to say the least.

“I didn’t recognize either of them, and I’ve had to answer to nearly all of the dragons here. One looked like an average SandWing? Or SkyWing? One had pale yellow scales with red speckles here and there, and the other was mostly a dark maroon red. The maroon one had a SandWing tail barb that didn’t look quite right, I believe.”

_Hybrids? There’s only two hybrid trainees of a similar age here, and neither of them fit those descriptions._

“How old are they? What were they doing?” I didn’t much care to know what they looked like, but the possibility that undocumented dragonets were traversing the Rift’s stone crags and hills was...intriguing. It had been years since anyone had shown up out of nowhere. There was no way that they’d arrived from outside the Rift, which meant that they’d been here under the radar all along, and that was a thought that made me deeply unsatisfied.

_I’ll have to collect them eventually. More fodder to meet the quota, at the very least, but maybe they’ll prove useful when they’re older._   
_Two of them, hmm? A pair of dragonets. That brings back memories._

Something in my chest twisted again, gut-wrenchingly so, and I fought against the burn in my eyes. That day, if nothing had changed, if they’d survived, would everything be different now? It felt so long ago, really, almost like a different life, but it still crept up on me, stealing my breath away and flooding me with overwhelming grief and _want._

_Two dragonets._   
_Could I have another chance?_

“They only seemed about three to five years old at the very most. They were setting up some sort of shelter in one of the smaller caves, but it looked temporary. They’re stuck in the Rift because of the Obsidian Cliff, so we can likely predict where they’ll go next.”

The Great Ice Cliff had mysteriously collapsed just before the first plague quarantine was put into effect, leaving the Ice Kingdom more open than ever. But three years later, long after the last explorers from distant tribes gave up on trying to unlock the secrets of the crushed IceWing civilization, the Ice Cliff rose again in the dark of the night.

Except it had turned to an impeccable wall of glossy black stone sprouting from the Rift, so dark you couldn’t even see your reflection in some areas. It almost seemed to absorb light instead of reflecting it. The Obsidian Cliff was what everyone called it. Though it had the same powers as the previous barrier, the wall also shot down any IceWing that tried to cross it.

It was just another piece of Icefall’s cursed work. Just another pretty magic show to show the world how IceWings crawled like ants under his talons. Another party trick designed purely as a slap in the face to the memory of the old glory of the Ice Kingdom, ensuring that none of the plague survivors would ever have the chance to face him.

_I spent so long fighting him, but he always had something else up his sleeve. Even then, I failed to see the friends I’d trusted turn against me until too late. Funny how life plays us._   
_Maybe Icefall is the one writing this story, but I’m still the hero. Aren’t I?_

My second and scout were gazing at me almost earnestly. I must have missed something important. I was so distracted today - I just wanted out of these stone walls. Out of the darkness and into the sunshine where the wind actually blew and everything was alright.

“What? I wasn’t requesting a history lesson,” I bit out, leaning back against the back of my chair and closing my eyes.

The scout snapped first. “We should get rid of them, right? They’re probably only going to cause us trouble if we leave them, and no one’s going to notice a couple of missing dragonets. Their parents were nowhere in the vicinity, at least.”

_Sure, sure. The quota. But maybe…_

Those memories flickered in my mind again, this time as hopeful as they were painful, beckoning to me even as the thought of them shredded me apart.

_Could I have another chance? Could I make it up to you?_   
_Could you be mine?_

My second huffed. “Really? Get rid of two possible new trainees? Leader Iceblink, there’s no question about recruitment. It’d be foolish to pass up a chance for young blood.”

I replied with a noncommittal hum. Both of them had good points, but I already knew the path I would take. It wasn’t either of what they’d suggested. Instead, an idea had already formed in my mind, wavering and desperate. Maybe it was a way out of this lonely purgatory. Maybe it was just one tiny bit of something for myself, in a world where I couldn’t help but live for everything else, everything that was so much more than I’d ever thought I was capable of.

My second cleared his throat quietly. “Permission to speak, Leader Iceblink?”

“Go ahead,” I said, not paying attention to the act.

“The scout reported hybrids with likely SandWing and SkyWing ancestry. Leader Iceblink, two years ago we had received tips on a SkyWing and SandWing couple located in the southeastern Rift. You dealt with them yourself, since they’d previously acquired certain...sensitive information. Is it possible that these new dragons could be their dragonets? Scouts knew that the couple had two sons, but they were never located, and their files were closed after the harsh winter that year.”

Javelina and Cyclone.

Their names still filled me with uneasy rage, but at least they were dead. I wouldn’t forget the feeling of seeing the misplaced scrolls in my chambers, the subtly shifted items and stolen files. They’d found out about _him._ They’d learned what he did; what I allowed him to do. It was only a matter of time before they ran with those priceless secrets.

So I killed them both. Watching the light fade from their eyes had given me euphoric relief.

Even if the mystery dragonets weren’t theirs, there'd been several SandWings and Skywings spotted throughout the last two years, some even taking the time to fly all the way around the Obsidian Cliff. They’d finally stopped coming in sometime within the last decade, but getting rid of or recruiting the ones that had arrived had been like trying to scrape sand out between scales.

Really, the chance that the dragonets were hybrids at all was small, but my second was right that the possibility was not to be ignored. Every dragon was essential to the Compound, and he wouldn’t be pleased if I relaxed my oversight.

_They’re just nobodies. They’ll probably amount to nothing, but..._   
_Hybrids are powerful._   
_Nearly every IceWing here knows that firsthand, thanks to Icefall._   
_But it’s okay. Two dragonets? That’s a blessing from the moons, isn’t it? If they despise me as much as everyone else does, I’ll just make them trainees. But if I could make them love me; if I could make them mine…?_   
_If I no longer have to be lonely, then it would be worth any sacrifice._

If they were completely bound to my will, then they would have no reason to look for real answers. Training them and guarding the secrets I held so near would be more time-consuming and important than ever, but why couldn’t I be a little selfish? After everything that had been stolen from me, who said I didn’t deserve anything? Back then, I’d never even had a chance. Maybe, just maybe, I could finally grasp at the life I’d first dreamed to build in the Compound.

Then again, what was this place ever supposed to be originally? I’d long forgotten its beginnings, the fruitless dream sunken to the depths of the corpse lake and faded in my blurry, crooked memory.

I stepped forward, the shadows cast by my wings veiling the faces of the dragons in front of me. I eyed my second-in-command, and he snapped to attention. “I’ll fetch these mystery dragonets myself. Flurry, I trust that you’ll assume my roles.”

Something in that freezing hollow carved into my chest had finally awakened from a long slumber. Was it hope, or was it selfishness? Maybe it was just a hungry _need,_ for something or someone to fill that aching void.

The faintest smile graced my face. “I may be gone for a spell. Time for some _recruitment.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’ll be one chapter uploaded every Friday from now on. Thanks for reading ^^


	4. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I’ll be out of town for the next couple of weeks without internet, I’m posting two chapters in advance. Hope you enjoy ^^

~Sunstone~

“Prey is almost always smaller and faster than us. So if you just run at the first meal you see, it’ll quickly escape as strength and speed isn’t as crucial as stealth in hunting, especially out here in the Rift.” Citrine droned on about hunting techniques as we strolled through the rocky field. He looked as bored as I felt, almost more focused on the lichens and rough patches of grass beneath our claws.

He dragged me along for his lessons almost every day now. Something about taking care of myself or having responsibilities, like hunting would majorly affect either of those in my lifetime. But why couldn’t I have a different responsibility? Citrine could do the hunting. I always thought I could do something else to help, like scouting the area or keeping watch at night, but apparently I wasn’t stealthy enough and other options were nonexistent. According to Citrine. I loved my brother and I would do anything for him, but why did it have to be hunting? I was so much more skilled at other things, even if I wasn’t quite sure what those other things were yet.

I zoned out and began to pluck at the heather stalks coating the ground, my pale yellow-gold forearm stark against the dark leaves.

_‘You’re not stealthy. You stand out on the ground from above.’  
‘You can’t guard at night, because you don’t know how to fight properly and you look entirely harmless without a tail barb. Besides, it’s not safe.’_

Sometimes, dragons would fly overhead us, but they never paid us any mind. Unlike me, Citrine had a tail barb that appeared slightly elongated and knifelike from our SkyWing parentage, but it wasn’t like it was really necessary to scare off the occasional predator. We both had fire, after all.

_‘Why can’t you build the shelter?! I’ve showed you seven times now. Here - like this.’_  
_‘You’re supposed to build a trap with the rocks, not a pile of rubble. What were you thinking? We need to eat.’_  
_‘This isn’t good enough. Do it again.’_  
_But no matter how hard I try with you, it’s never good enough. Why should I even bother? Even when I actually do something correctly, you don’t see._

Citrine suddenly stomped his talons onto the ground, catching me off guard. His smoldering glare burned into my eyes, and my heart leaped.

“Sorry. I was just--” I began before Citrine interrupted me with a loud snarl.

“All I’m asking you to do is listen. WHY are the most simple of tasks SO DIFFICULT to accomplish for you?!” The tired frustration in his voice was an obvious hint that I shouldn’t try to form an excuse. “I’m so tired of this, Sunstone. Tell me what to do that will make you do things properly for once. Just for once.”

My heart thudded in my chest, and I hated how cornered I felt in that moment. Something made Citrine angry, all the time. Deeply angry, on the inside where I couldn’t see, and it just so happened that I was the only dragon around for him to take out his frustrations on. We both hated it, but neither of us were ever brave enough to really talk about it and sort things out.

Citrine groaned, shaking his maroon and sand-pale head. “Argh. I shouldn’t have yelled; I’m sorry. We’ve been doing this for days, though. I wish you would pick this up a little quicker. Maybe I should just send you out to hunt. If you can actually do it, then I won’t have to waste time teaching you this.”

That tiny nagging fear vanished, and I could feel the grin appearing on my face. This was it. He was giving me a chance!

_I can finally prove that I can do this! He won’t think so badly of me anymore!_

I nodded eagerly. “Yes, please! I promise I won’t let you down!”

Citrine gazed at me for a moment and smiled, his anger melting away to reveal the brother I really knew underneath. “Try the cedar forest at the edge of the foothills we saw yesterday. There’ll probably be some squirrels or something, maybe even badgers or foxes if you’re really lucky.”

I knew exactly where that was. I turned, squinting against the sun, cool wind blowing past my horns. Everything seemed brighter suddenly.

_This is awesome! I’ll bring back a wolf just to see the look on his face!_

Citrine tapped my shoulder. “I’ll be following at a distance, and you’ll see me by sunset. If you ever need help, just give a roar. I’m here for you. Also, this might be a good opportunity to teach you tracking-”

“We can do that tomorrow; I want to hunt today! I PROMISE I won’t let you down, Citrine, let me do this already!” I bounced up and down, wings shivering with sudden adrenaline.

He laughed, throwing his head in the air. “Bet you five squirrels that you won’t catch anything.”

I snorted in reply, twin trails of smoke appearing momentarily. “Bet you _ten_ I will!”

I extended my wings and took to the sky, remembering to stay in the clouds like Citrine had said in an earlier lesson. My wings were large and gangly compared to the rest of my body thanks to my father’s blood, but they made flying so much easier. Minutes later, I dropped down into the cedar forest as quietly as I possibly could, cringing as twigs and needles crackled under my claws.

_‘You’re not stealthy.’  
But I know that, and I’ll deal with it! I can still feed myself._

I righted myself and craned my neck, peering into the undergrowth. Not seeing any clues of animals residing in this particular area, I decided to set off in a random direction, tramping through sticks that snapped under my talons. Before long, I was peering at a sunny dip in the ground not far ahead.

_I bet something lives there. Maybe a wolf? What do wolves look like?_

My tail swished along the ground in anticipation of the catch, disturbing the pine needles coating the ground. I had told Citrine I wouldn’t fail him this time, and I really didn’t have the time to chase five whole squirrels up trees. My talons curled over the edge of the basin, and I quickly spotted the sparkle of slitted eyes resting near a granite boulder.

I grinned. It wasn’t anything huge, but it would do just fine.

_Prepare yourself, animal. This time, you won’t escape!_


	5. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.4

~Citrine~

I trailed Sunstone at a distance, the bright red specks dotting his scales barely visible through the undergrowth. Crouching underneath a particularly bushy cedar tree, I regretted my decision almost instantly as the wind shook hidden droplets of water onto my now-damp snout. I clutched the amber pendant of my necklace, trying to wipe the moisture away.

The necklace was the last thing that Mother had ever given me. One moment she’d clasped it around my neck, pulling me in for a hug with her sand-colored wings, and the next she was gone. Spirited away. Neither Sunstone nor I knew where she had gone.

That day was clouded and faded in my memory from time, despite how hard I tried to remember it as clearly as I could. I knew that there was an undeniable truth in there somewhere - maybe even an answer to where Mother had gone, but I wouldn’t be finding it any time soon.

We did know one thing, though, and that was that Mother had promised us that she would return. And even if it had been two years, even if I was slowly forgetting all the broken bits of memories I had of her and Father, even if it made me ridiculously angry at some times, I knew that Mother didn’t lie, and that she always kept her promises. I knew in my heart that I’d see her again someday, and I refused to believe otherwise.

Sunstone was skeptical. He’d only lived for just over a year out of the eggshell before Mother disappeared, and he couldn’t recall any memories of her at all, let alone Father. He seemed to doubt that Mother would return for us no matter what I told him, but I didn’t let that sway me. Whatever doubts or fears he had were stubbornly covered in a blinding sheet of optimism, and I loved him too much to argue with him despite his disbelief.

The sky had turned dangerously cloudy, and Sunstone was far too cheerful for the weather. My brother didn’t need the sun; he glowed enough to light up his own little bit of the world at every second. I was worried that he’d fall into an invisible pit from sheer oblivion if I didn’t do anything.

Fighting the urge to sneeze from the sudden shower I’d gotten, I crept forward, watching Sunstone step to the edge of a sandy basin littered with rocks. I froze as my wing accidentally snapped a tree branch, but the sound was covered as Sunstone slipped, sending a small avalanche of pebbles clattering to the bottom of the basin. I froze again, double and triple-checking that he was alright.

_He really needs to work on his stealth._  
_Anything could have easily ambushed him just now. And what if he’d hurt himself falling down? What if he IS hurt? Was this really a good idea?_  
_I just want him to be happy._

When I heard Sunstone drop to the bottom of the hill, I moved forward to find him slowly stalking towards a creature in the shade of a large boulder. I stared at the animal for a moment. It appeared to be a lizard of some sort, with the trademark beady eyes and glossy scales, but something felt off.

_Where are the legs?_

The creature coiled into a hypnotizing spiral, its head barely grazing the ground as it fixed its slitted pupils on Sunstone, who was still smiling like an idiot. A forked tongue flashed briefly, and a dark, reddish color mottled some of the creature’s scales.

_Snake.  
Three moons, there’s snakes here?!_

I suddenly felt lightheaded staring at the animal, and my limbs cramped, frozen to the ground. Faint images of a blood-soaked ledge smothered with gorse flashed through my mind.

_Mother said to protect him with everything I have. If Sunstone moves even an inch..._

I launched myself out of the trees and into the clearing, not caring as falling rocks scraped and pinged against my scales, rubbing them raw. “SUNSTONE! DON’T MOVE! _WAIT!”_

I’d spoken a second too late, frozen by fear. Sunstone had already leapt for the snake, and the animal was already pinned between Sunstone’s talons and the ground, thrashing like a whip. Sunstone turned to me, eyes wide with surprise at the sight of me diving towards him. Horror and revulsion writhed in my body as I watched the snake slip free, rearing and bearing its fangs.

In a flash, Sunstone was suddenly shrieking and the snake had attached itself to his shoulder. Sunstone staggered toward me, and I jumped towards the snake, ripping the creature from my little brother’s shoulder. The scarlet streaks of blood gushing towards the ground were beacons in my vision as I set the snake aflame, tearing its head off with my talons. The snake head rolled a few feet away, leaving a trail of stained sand beneath it. Inexplicably, the head thrashed and bit at the air for a few more seconds before finally resting, the ashen scales beneath my talons cooling.

I lurched to Sunstone’s side, trying to wrap my wings around him while at the same time trying to staunch the bleeding snake bite. It should have been a clean wound, but the way I had torn it had turned the bite marks into bleeding scratches. The crisp air felt colder than ever, and the sun felt far too bright as the tears in my eyes threatened to overflow. I had the irrational fear that if I didn’t stop the bleeding, my little brother would turn into a puddle of blood like the one on the ledge from so long ago.

“S-Sunstone! Don’t p-panic, I’m here… It’ll be okay.” I wasn’t sure whether I was speaking to him or myself.

_I shouldn’t have let him do this. This is all my fault!_  
_If only I had taught him about snakes; if only I had made him listen, this wouldn’t have happened. Why can’t I teach him anything useful?_  
_What if I can’t keep my promise? I can’t fail Mother..._

Something wasn’t right. Sunstone was growing too weak too fast, and even though I was staunching the bleeding somewhat successfully, he wasn’t responding to me. My chest felt tight. White lights started to flash behind my eyes, and my heartbeat turned into a roaring thud in my ears. I was gasping for breath, shuddering and more lightheaded than ever. The tears rolled down my snout and distorted my vision, rendering it nearly impossible to see.

Then it started to rain, thunder rolling through the clouds and the downpour soaking us through to the bone. I felt almost as if I was underwater, it was raining so hard.

_I can’t lose Sunstone now._

An ugly sob wrenched its way out of my throat as I panicked completely, my talons slipping from Sunstone’s wound. I attempted to put them back, but blood spurted from the slashes on his shoulder. The redness was suddenly everywhere and I couldn’t pinpoint the source anymore as tears turned everything into a blurry mess. I couldn’t tell the difference between the sandy basin and that gorse-lined crag two years ago.

_So much blood._  
_Why was there so much blood the day Mother disappeared?_  
_Why won’t she come back now? Why won’t she come save Sunstone? I can’t do this by myself! Why did she think we’d be alright without her for two whole years?! Why did she think that I was capable of keeping us both safe?_  
_I’m such a failure._  
_I just want her back._

Suddenly, a pale, wraithlike figure stood in front of me, blotting out the dark clouds while wrapping their wings around me and rubbing my back. Their scales felt cold and wet from the rain, but everything seemed slightly warmer than before as I looked into calm, serene blue eyes the color of a winter sky.

“Shhh, now. It’s going to be okay. Your brother is going to be okay.” The voice sounded far off and muffled by the rain, making it so that I could barely understand. The dragon hugged me tighter, but it couldn’t control my panic.

Looking again at my little brother with his wings splayed against the ground, everything was blurred, and he appeared simply as an unmoving splotch of pale yellow. The violent thudding in my ears turned to a deafening thunder, and I blacked out, head slamming against the ground.

_I can’t lose him._

****

**. . .**

My bleary eyes opened to the light of two full moons, the third nothing but a glowing sickle in the sky. I rubbed my eyes and sighed. I was at the mouth of a large cave, and the stony floor extended out over an abyss of shadow that I couldn’t see in the night.

_Where am I? Where’s Sunstone?_

I jerked up, all exhaustion instantly lifted, and whirled around to find my brother lying peacefully in the back of the cave. A white bandage was wrapped around his shoulder and forearm, and only a single speck of blood had bled through the cloth.

“Sunstone?” I quietly padded to his side, wings shaking. “Are you alright? Please wake up.” My little brother’s sand-colored scales looked to have lost their former luster, appearing pale and waxen. The ruby-red freckles dotting his snout and back seemed like pinpricks of scarlet blood. His chest rose and fell faintly, and I held his small talons in my claws.

“He’ll be fine. He just needs rest. I bandaged him and already administered the antidote, so there’s nothing to worry about.” I turned around to find a white dragoness watching me from the mouth of the cave. She had to be at least twenty years older than me, standing in the place where I was moments ago. Her snow-white scales and spines had the barest tinge of pale ice-blue at the edges, and she seemed to nearly glow in the light of the moon. Her eyes weren’t unlike the sky-colored hue of the strange and mystical mountains made of ice I had once seen in the distant north.

_I think they were called glaciers, but I’m not sure..._

The beautiful dragon smiled, and the expression looked almost ethereal on her face. “You need rest, too. And food, let’s not forget that!” She pushed a turkey on the cave floor towards me. “Eat up, and then sleep, okay? Everything will be alright.”

_She talks like Mother._

I cautiously pulled the turkey towards me, and began to eat slowly. Carefully. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” I wasn’t about to let myself be tricked now. As amiable as the strange dragon seemed, she was still a stranger, and I didn’t know if I could trust her. The handful of dragons we’d ran into since the time Mother had disappeared hadn’t been too reliable. “And where are we?”

_She hadn’t taken us to a place where Mother wouldn’t find us, right?  
It’s been two years. Mother will have to find us soon, but she can only do it if we’re still in the Rift._

She looked down at me, amused, and sat down. “My name is Iceblink! I’m an IceWing, but you probably already know that. I don’t need anything from you - I just wanted to help you two dragonets out. You have _nothing_ I would possibly want.” Her voice reminded me of sunlight, but almost too saturated. 

Her words were true, but they stung, because Sunstone and I really did have nothing at all. I must have appeared downcast anyway, as Iceblink took a sharp intake of breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just meant that I had no reason to help you besides the fact that I couldn’t stand just leaving you.” Her blue eyes gazed earnestly at me, refusing to look away. “I was passing by and I couldn’t just leave two dragonets alone with a snake, especially not when one was already hurt. I just wanted to help, I promise.”

Maybe I could trust her. I watched the tiny red freckles on Sunstone’s snout. And it really wasn’t like we had anything she could take from us.

_She promised...but so did Mother, and she hasn’t kept hers even though it’s been two years. What makes this dragon any different?  
Still, she seems okay, and she helped Sunstone by bandaging him. I should stop worrying so much. Sunstone and I are safe now. That’s all that’s important._

“But where are we?” I pressed the question, seeing as she hadn’t yet answered it.

“Oh, of course!” she exclaimed, remembering. “Northwestern foothills. Actually, a bit north of that; we’re on the edge of the mountains.”

“We’re still in the Rift, right?” I asked, trying not to sound panicked.

“Of course. No one can leave, anyway. Don’t you know that?” Iceblink studied me, eyes full of wonder. “...How old are you? Where are your parents? I tried looking for them, but I haven’t seen any dragons anywhere today.”

My cheeks reddened. “I’m five, and my name is Citrine, and that’s my little brother Sunstone. He’s three.” Iceblink opened her mouth to answer, but she turned her eyes to watch Sunstone, who had begun to snore rather loudly. My expression softened a bit as I gazed down at my brother. “Um...I don’t know where my parents are, but they’re coming. Soon. Probably. Eventually.”

Iceblink turned back to me and smiled sympathetically, almost as if I was telling her a funny joke, and something pricked inside my head, almost spitefully.

_Mother is coming back, and Father will be with her, so don’t you dare act like she isn’t! Don’t you dare not believe me!_

“Well… It doesn’t seem like you know the geography of the Rift that well. How about I tell you more about that, and the dragons living here?” She wrapped a wing around me, and my anger evaporated. My head was bubbling with confusing emotions, from the discomfort of this stranger’s touch to the sensation of how her cold scales were soothing like a fall morning. It was as if my mother was right there beside me, even if it was a different dragon. 

“Of course!” I couldn’t explain it, but I already craved this dragon’s attention. It was all too easy to picture Iceblink as a pale SandWing with warm brown freckles and replace the chill of her white scales with summer warmth.

Occasionally checking on Sunstone through the night, we chased away the darkness talking about the Rift and the world surrounding it. Iceblink explained what seemed like every nook and cranny of the area - its barren moors and taiga forests, mountains, rivers and streams, and yes, glaciers, in the north.

The Rift encompassed all the land between the northern Ice Kingdom, where it was too cold for the other tribes to thrive, and the wall of black stone cutting off the kingdom from the rest of the world. It was called the Obsidian Cliff, and no dragon could pass it. Somewhere beyond that wall were the other kingdoms, but none of us would ever venture beyond the wall to see them.

Not knowing what else to do afterwards, I fell silent, gazing at the paling sky and watching the stars slowly fade into the morning. Iceblink hummed a lullaby, getting up and looking towards Sunstone.

“I think he’s waking up,” she said suddenly, and I rushed to his side. Seeing his tired but curious amber eyes open, something finally loosened in my chest. I finally felt truly safe, knowing for sure now that Iceblink could mean no harm. She’d saved Sunstone, even if Mother or I couldn’t. Beaming, I let myself relax. Everything was finally going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wings of Ice will return in September. Thank you for reading!


	6. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wings of Ice is back! Updates will resume weekly as usual.

~Sunstone~

I awoke to find two pairs of eyes staring into my own, one an amber copy of my own, one a bright and icy blue. Citrine grinned down at me, and his smile was almost blinding. Compelled, I flashed a smile back in return, and all of the fear left over from the strange animal lunging at me evaporated.

“I don’t want to interrupt,” the mystery dragon began, “But I need to redress that wound. The bandages are coming off.” Citrine stepped back reluctantly.

_Redress?  
Wound?_

As if on cue, my shoulder began to throb, and I remembered what had happened. The way that animal had lunged for me instead of running away…

I’d never been so scared before in my life.

Any nervousness was blanketed by my awe at the new dragon. I stared at her, eyes wide. Her scales looked as if the moons had fallen down to touch them, and then she’d gone and ran through a field of snow. In the faint light of the approaching dawn outside, she seemed almost otherworldly. Although the temperature of the air around her was chilled by her scales, the warmth of her smile was enough to melt it all away. “You’re so… You’re so amazing! How do you look like that?”

She laughed, and the sound of it was like bells. “Oh, thank you! I look like this because I’m an IceWing. You can call me Iceblink. And you’re Sunstone, right?” She began to unwind the bandages, reaching for another wad of the strange fabric at her claw tips. Glancing back to me, she smiled. “You’re pretty strong, you know? You survived the bite of a snake!”

Pride bloomed inside of me.

_Finally a dragon who can praise me without criticism._

Citrine wanted the best for me, I knew that, but sometimes it was just hard to live with him. He could be so negative, and putting up with whatever he was carrying but wouldn’t tell me about was just so exhausting. But his new dragon - Iceblink - was different. Something inside me pulled me towards her like a magnet, or a moth to a flame.

Iceblink finished tying off the bandage and sat upright. “Well, that should be the last time I have to do that. You guys look hungry, and I saw a herd of elk run through earlier. I think I’ll go get some food for us to eat. Stay here, okay? Promise me.”

Citrine shivered slightly, but he only smiled at her. He glanced at me before turning back to Iceblink, grinning again. “Alright. That’s probably for the best. We wouldn’t want Sunstone to get hurt again.”

He was already back to mocking me again. I instantly felt crushed.

_I just got bitten by that thing! Give me a break._

“Hey! I can protect myself!” I burst out, sitting up straight. They both looked at me incredulously and I shifted. “Okay, maybe not last time, but I will next time!”

I saw Iceblink smile and turn away from the corner of my eye, and I turned my full attention to Citrine. He looked uncomfortable, almost queasy. I glared at him. Served him right for being such a jerk.

He sighed. “I’m really sorry for yesterday, Sunstone. I didn’t mean for all that to happen, I should’ve taught you about snakes, how to-”

_So that thing was a...snake. And he’s apologizing.  
When’s the last time he’s ever been sorry?_

I stared in shock as my annoyance shattered. I jumped up and hugged him, suddenly feeling like I wanted to cry. “I’m sorry I’m so bad at hunting, I-I promise I’ll do better next time.” Tears stung in my eyes, and I began to sob. How did it all go so wrong?

Citrine’s eyes glittered with more than just the moonlight. “I’m just sorry that I let this happen. I should have...could have…” He trailed off, and a tear spilled from the corner of his eye. “I feel like I almost got you killed, suggesting you go off to hunt alone like that.”

I stared at him. What was I supposed to say? It was too alien and unfamiliar to hear Citrine apologizing like this. After what felt like an eternity, Citrine wiped his face and turned away, squaring his shoulders suddenly. “How do you feel?” He couldn’t hide the quaver in his voice.

I decided to put the issue to rest. “I feel fine. My shoulder hurts a bit, but I’m okay.”

_I’m okay._

****

**. . .**

I gazed at the twin scars branding my shoulder, two slivers of raised pink flesh.

It had been nearly seven weeks since the incident with the snake, and while my shoulder was back to perfect health I still couldn’t get the hang of hunting. Even the lumbering mountain goats managed to elude me. Though Citrine had forgiven me and seemed to blame himself for the snake, I could sense his past frustration returning, and refused to give up.

I dug my claws into the fat elk that _Citrine_ had caught for us to share. Tearing it open messily, I could almost feel Citrine’s gaze of disapproval boring into my skull.

I glanced up at him, taking a bite. “Sorry.”

He sighed wearily. “We need to work on your tracking skills first. You’re not going to catch anything at this rate, blundering aimlessly--”

“I DO _NOT_ BLUNDER AIML-”

“Yes, you do. You simply rely on prey to be there when you want it to be. Remember to look for trails used by deer, scat from assorted wildlife--”

“Ugh! You keep telling me this, and I _KNOW_-”

“Use your knowledge, then!”

I glared at him, standing up. My appetite seemed to dissolve. I could totally hunt, I just needed a bit more luck.

_Are we seriously arguing about this?_

Citrine grabbed my arm. I tried to shake him free, but he just held on tighter, his grip like a vise. 

“Let me go!”

Citrine snarled back at me, the old anger alight in his eyes. “Look, I just don’t want history to repeat itself, okay? You don’t understand anything! I have to do everything for you, and everything that goes wrong is always my fault, and it never matters how I feel because I _always_ have to think about you first! Why can’t you be more agreeable?! I get that I’m not the best brother, but you never even try to take responsibility for anything! I have to do this all alone! You don’t understand, and you don’t even try!”

I shoved at him angrily. “Are you serious?! How can you tell me that?! You always treat me like some sort of newly hatched dragonet, and I’m already three! I’ll be four in a few months! You think I never do anything right and I usually don’t, but when I do you don’t even notice! And I thought we were in this together! You’re always obsessed with Mother finding us and taking care of me, but you never actually care about how I feel! Let me _GO!”_

He dropped my arm like a rock, glowering at me. I turned abruptly towards the cave entrance, wanting to be somewhere - anywhere but here.

_But there’s nowhere to go._

I sat down at the cave opening, my anger like a cauldron of boiling water that was seconds away from overflowing. Citrine and I had to be in this together, but maybe even optimism couldn’t prevent ties from being broken. All I wanted was for Citrine to be my brother, and maybe that was too much to ask for, without parents I never knew - but I never wanted this. We were always close and we had always loved each other like normal brothers, so why did it feel like there was a gap spreading between us now?

“You’re exaggerating, Sunstone,” Citrine said, somehow still calm. “You need to calm down and hear me out. For once, I just want you to-”

_“SHUT UP!”_

The cave was deafeningly quiet. The sound of beating wings approaching forced me to look up, and I spotted Iceblink flying towards us from the east.

“I’m back!” she called to us, and I returned my attention to the empty sky. Iceblink had appointed it upon herself to do daily rounds of the terrain, wanting to be sure there were no threats lurking. We never knew where she went, but she was always back within a few hours.

Iceblink smiled at us. “You didn’t finish the elk. Can I have the rest?”

Citrine sighed and turned away, melting into the shadows at the back of the cave. “Sure.”

Iceblink gazed at his departing figure for a moment before tearing apart the elk and popping it into her mouth in little strips of meat. I continued to stare at the sky, watching a wisp of cloud that had appeared to the south. Iceblink picked the last bone clean and swept the last of the carcass out of the cave with her tail. My eyes followed the bouncing motion of the pale bones as they cascaded down the mountain.

“Did you guys fight? I mean, you fight a lot, but somehow this seems different.” Snow plopped down beside me, curling her tail neatly over her front talons.

_It is, because now we’re fighting about what actually matters - not just some pointless thing, like not being able to catch prey._

“Citrine thinks I’m a worthless idiot who can’t understand anything.”

“I never said that!” Citrine roared, storming towards the very back of the cave. “Don’t put words into my mouth! It’s just that you never try to understand anything!”

“I don’t care!” I called back with a growl threatening to spill over into my voice. “Anyone could say the same about you!” 

Iceblink’s expression was grave, and something flickered behind her eyes that I couldn’t recognize. I glared at her, silently willing her to take my side. “He keeps treating me as if I’m incapable of doing anything at all!”

Iceblink glared at me. “Well, that’s convenient, isn’t it? Because it’s true. Maybe you should just let me do all the work for you instead, since it’s such a load to Citrine.”

I gaped at her. My vision went blurry again, and my throat tightened. How could she say something like that?

Iceblink instantly covered her mouth in horror. “I’m so sorry, Sunstone, I just...I’m not feeling too well. Go apologize to your brother.”

I scowled at her before stalking towards the cave, feeling worse than ever. Everything was supposed to be perfect after Iceblink had arrived, but I felt more at a loss than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let us know what you think! Feel free to leave comments or kudos. Thank you for reading ^^


	7. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.6

~Citrine~

Ever since that day, even if there had been no one to see, I’d felt like a thousand dragons were watching me closely from every direction. Everything I did with Sunstone - was it good for him? Or was I just ruining things even more? Whatever I did always felt like a mistake, even if we were happy at the end of the day. Even from before Sunstone could remember, I’d been messing up and putting our lives in jeopardy.

I’d leave to find us food, and when I’d return, there would be a bear sniffing around the entrance to our shelter. I’d turn my back on one-and-a-half-year-old Sunstone and lose him a moment later, only to find him again hours later just before dark. Some nights, I would fail to catch anything to fill our bellies at all, and I would listen to my little brother’s stomach growl loudly as I tried to fall asleep.

_Mother and Father would have been able to defend Sunstone against bears. Mother wouldn’t make the mistake of looking away from Sunstone for more than a moment and letting him wander away. Mother and Father always managed to catch something, no matter how small, for us to eat._ _I can’t do anything right._  
_Mother, why? Why did you have to ask me to be Sunstone’s parent? Why did you think I could do all of this by myself? I just want to be his brother, and he wants the same._  
_Why haven’t you come for us yet? Sunstone doesn’t even remember you._

I reached for a lump of coal and a blank sheet of papyrus, and began to sketch the outline of a female SandWing. I tried to recall her long snout, the way her wings bent when she rested, how she curled her tail when she laughed - but the images in my mind were too faint. While the figure looked like a SandWing, there was no way I could make it look like my mother. Trying again using my father, it only appeared to be an average SkyWing in mid-flight, all familiarity gone. Missing.

Vanished.

_Please come back._

I settled for drawing an anonymous subject, a RainWing, her wings flung out as far as they would reach. Her ruff was flared, and she seemed to stare out of the drawing, her claws reaching for the world beyond the canvas as she bared her fangs. Somehow, she just looked sad, like some dragon had leached all the happiness out of her scales until she was nondescript and gray. I couldn’t even draw anything nice, let alone do anything else.

I tossed the RainWing, not-mother SandWing, and not-father SkyWing onto a pile of other drawings. Among them included sketches of the local plants and animals, and others of inanimate objects like the necklace that Mother gave me. Touching the amber pendant gently, I sighed and closed my eyes. There wasn’t anything on my back, but I still felt weighted, like I was carrying a mountain on my shoulders.

I was crushed. I just wanted Father to fly into the cave and smile like he used to do and pat me on the back with that glimmer of pride in his eyes. I just wanted Mother to follow him in and hug me and Sunstone tightly and call us her little springboks like she always did.

_I hope you’ll return soon. I’m starting to lose hope..._

I turned for the exit, but Sunstone was blocking it, the outside light shining through the membranes of his disproportionately long, pale wings. My face twisted into a scowl.

“Citrine, I wanna talk to you.” He looked sad, but desperate, his amber eyes jumping from one thing to the next in the cave. Just like my own, but still a thousand times happier.

_You don’t understand anything!_

“What is it?” I didn’t bother concealing my anger, a snarl rising into my voice.

He flinched. “I’m sorry about just now. I shouldn’t have said all of that. You were right, and I was overreacting. But I meant what I said, and Citrine?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s okay now, and you don’t have to overwork yourself anymore. You’ll finally have time to be my brother! We have Iceblink. She could be… She’s like Mother.” Sunstone’s expression was hopeful, but rage suddenly roared to life inside of me.

“She’s not Mother!” I yelled. “Why are you giving up on her already?! If Mother is - if she doesn’t come back, then everything I’ve done for the last two years has been for _NOTHING!_ You don’t understand! I made her a promise!”

Sunstone was crying now, falling apart right in front of me.

“I made her a promise, and I won’t let you replace her! You don’t understand how hard this is! I like Iceblink, too, but she isn’t Mother, and she never will be!”

_“MOTHER ISN’T COMING BACK!”_ yelled Sunstone, burying his face in his claws. _“NEITHER IS FATHER! I’M APOLOGIZING AND I’M TRYING TO FIX THIS, BUT…”_ he sniffled. “It’s been two years, Citrine. Just give up. I want my brother.”

“Stop crying,” I spat. “You look pathetic. Mother will come back. We’re done here.”

“I’m sorry,” insisted Sunstone.

I ignored him and walked out of the cave. Iceblink shot a disapproving glance at me, but I ignored her. “I’m going out to hunt.”

She sighed, white scales glittering in the sun. “Okay, but don’t leave the mountain-”

“No. I’ll go where I want. You’re not our mother, so don’t try to be.”

I might have imagined it, but the beautiful IceWing seemed to be charged with fury. But then it was gone, and Iceblink nodded slowly. “Fair enough. I’ll have to ask you to be back by dusk, though.”

“Whatever. Later, Iceblink.”

“Later, Citrine.”

****

**. . .**

I had not flown far before I heard wingbeats behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I spotted Sunstone flying as fast as he could towards me down the mountain. I ignored him, but I still slowed down enough so that he’d be able to keep up. Even if I was still angry with him, I couldn’t let him wander the Rift by himself.

“Where are we going?” Sunstone called to me.

Instead of answering, I veered abruptly downwards into a steep dive, hurtling towards a rushing river. A flat slab of stone jutted out of it in the center, and I landed on it neatly. A moment later, Sunstone was standing beside me. My talons gripped the stone, slick from the spraying water, and I had to shout back to Sunstone to be heard over the thundering of the water. “Be careful!”

Sunstone stumbled as a gust of wind slammed into us, scrabbling to hold the stone. “Yeah, I know!” He peered into the frothing water. “Citrine, why are we here?”

I strode over to him, squinting against the spray that glittered like a million diamonds under the afternoon sun. “Hunting. For fish.”

Just then, I spotted a shining figure arching above the water. Leaping up to face the fish, I barely managed to see it swim off towards the more calm, shallow banks.

“Was that a fish?” Sunstone squinted in the direction of the shallows.

“It was. I’m going after it. Stay here,” I said pointedly, creeping towards the far side of the rock closest to the banks. It felt slimy from algae, and I shuddered at the wetness.

_Watch and learn, Sunstone._

Again spotting the shine of smooth scales just beneath the surface of the water, I leapt, extending my wings momentarily before diving into the water. The sound of the water became a muffled rushing in my ears, and my jaws closed around the enormous fish. I held my necklace in one claw, making sure it didn’t float away.

_Tastes disgusting.  
Oh, well, it’s food._

I shot back to the surface, exploding out of the water in a cascade of shining droplets. Compared to the murky river bottom, the world above was so filled with color and noise that I felt nearly faint for a moment. I landed again in the center of the damp slab of stone, water spilling off of my wings and trickling past my scales to the ground. Setting the silvery fish on the ground and pinning it beneath my talons, I turned to Sunstone.

Before I could say anything, his eyes darted over the river. They suddenly fixed on something in the rushing expanse of the river, and he leaped, copying my movements as he went under.

I froze. I couldn’t see Sunstone anywhere under the whitewater.

_No._

A minute passed, and then another.

_What will be the last thing he remembers about me? How I yelled at him and shot his apologies down? Or how I failed to protect him against the snake?  
What am I doing?!_

I moved, running towards the edge of the rock to leap into the frothing river only to barely miss sand-colored talons clawing their way over the boulder. I reached to help a gasping Sunstone over the edge.

Any rage from before had vanished as I saw the fish struggling in his jaws.

“That fish is gigantic!” I gazed at him, unable to put my pride into words. His fish was huge, making my fish appear small and stunted. “Three moons. You can hunt!” He nodded quickly, shaking the water from his horns, too overjoyed to speak. I threw my head back and laughed, hugging him and holding him close. I nudged him. “Let’s take these back. Iceblink’s reaction will be priceless.”

We rose into the sky, the last of the river water falling from our scales. The journey back to the cave was quick and uneventful. Before long, the dark opening of the cave greeted us, like the gaping mouth of a petrified monster. It was almost dusk, and the shadows around us were long and distorted.

_Something’s off._

Iceblink wasn’t there. 

“Where’d Iceblink go?” Sunstone asked his question through a mouth already full of fish. I followed suit, trying to choke down the slimy meat. Unable to stomach the taste, I set it aflame until it was charred with black marks and scarfed it down.

_Fish is horrific._

“I’m not sure,” I said, swallowing, “But I know she’ll be back soon.”

We finished the fish in silence, Sunstone attempting to carve something into its slimy skull but failing. Iceblink had a hobby of carving little figurines from stone, and Sunstone had quickly picked up the practice. It wasn’t like a real lesson like the ones we occasionally did to learn letters or how to read, but Sunstone seemed to enjoy it anyway.

I wondered briefly whether or not I could make any drawing tools from the bones before deciding that I didn’t really want the smell of fish hanging around my utensils anyhow. Besides, the bones bent far too easily and most weren't the right shape.

_Where is Iceblink? She’s not back yet and it’s almost dusk._

Sunstone and I sat at the front of the cave. Sunstone tried to count the rapidly appearing stars, and I tried scouring the shadowed valley for Iceblink.

_Is she okay? Did she get hurt?  
Or did she leave, like Mother did?_

The fire we had burned out, and I felt Sunstone shiver in the darkness. I rose suddenly, hearing the familiar beat of wings and recognizing pale white scales rushing towards us through the night.

“Are you okay? Where did you go? It’s nighttime already!” Our questions overlapped each other as Iceblink touched down on the cave floor.

“I’m so sorry,” she said in a rush. “I went out for a little fresh air and I must have fallen asleep. I’m so, so sorry.” She looked at us, obvious regret spilling into her voice.

Falling asleep in a situation like that wasn’t something I’d put past her, and I was just relieved that she wasn’t hurt. But why did she look so panicked, like we weren’t supposed to know anything about this?

“I thought you’d be asleep.” She looked over us, craning her neck and squinting at the pile of fish bones. “Fish? Interesting choice of dinner.”

“Yeah! They were awesome, you should come fishing with us sometime!” Sunstone bounced around her eagerly.

Iceblink hugged him, panic gone but still holding him harder than necessary. “I’ll have to do that.” She strode to the back of the cave and flopped over, spreading her wings wide. “Well, I’m going to sleep, and I think you guys should, too. It’s practically midnight.”

Sunstone snuggled himself under one of her wings, and I followed suit. His scales were warm against mine, and I was immeasurably relieved that he was there, despite our arguments from earlier. There would always be another day to make amends.

Iceblink’s scales felt cold and hard, and her wings wrapped around us like a frozen chamber. I couldn’t help but notice how much it felt like a cage. This had happened before - like the phalanges of her wings were iron bars and all the space in between was empty void.

But I was just being paranoid.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I’m probably just going to officially change the upload day to Saturdays since it’s easier for me. See you in a week!


	8. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are officially updating on Saturdays from this point forward. Thank you!

~Sunstone~

Lately, Iceblink had been trying to teach us to read scrolls for one reason or another. I loved those lessons - she would read and show us all sorts of stories with countless heroes and villains that were always given justice at the end of the day. I desperately wanted to be able to read like she could, especially because I could only read short sentences, but Citrine seemed to deem it a waste of time and usually spent the lessons doodling in the corners of the parchment we were supposed to be writing letters on.

Iceblink didn’t seem to care, though - she was always watching over me closely. And the attention was enough to fulfill my desire, so I stole it all away from Citrine. He didn’t mind; it just gave him more time to do what he liked, although he sometimes appeared jealous.

I was about halfway through a scroll when Citrine walked into the cave and sat down beside me. His expression was grim, and I set down the scroll on the cavern floor gently.

“We need to talk,” said my brother.

“We already talked,” I told Citrine, refusing to look at him.

“No, like…” Citrine sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve done a lot of things as a brother that were less than satisfactory to either of us. But you are my brother. So don’t forget that, okay, Sunstone?”

“Of course not. I just don’t get why you have to be so-”

“I made a promise to Mother, Sunstone. I promised her I would protect you and teach you how to survive with everything I’ve got. Some - Most of the time, I feel like I’m failing horribly, but I can’t just give up. Please, Sunstone. You’ve got to try and understand how much you really meant to Mother. To me.” Citrine’s face was pleading, and he held my talons.

Citrine sometimes brought up his promise to Mother - it was never a secret between us, but he never talked about it like this. Usually it was just used as a motivator to make me practice hunting or flying more. I frowned. “I don’t want to survive. I just want to live like a normal dragon, and I can’t ever do that with you.”

“But you can do that with Iceblink.”

It wasn’t a question. I hesitated, and then nodded guiltily. It wasn’t that Citrine was a bad brother; I just needed more than what he could give me sometimes.

“Listen, Sunstone, I…” Citrine’s gaze drifted to the cave entrance, where Iceblink was out of earshot. “This probably won’t make any sense, but the way Iceblink watches you...It scares me. I don’t know why, but Sunstone, sometimes I just don’t trust her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” I said. “All she’s ever done for us is to be the best dragon ever! You’re so scared of _everything_, and you have to have something against everyone! I hate that!”

“I just want to keep you safe!” yelled Citrine. Then he sighed, rubbing his face with his talons. “Look, forget what I said about Iceblink. You’re probably right.”

I sighed angrily, turning to walk away, but Citrine grabbed my tail. I sat back down again, glaring at him.

“Please don’t be mad. I’m your brother. I feel like - even if I never made that promise to Mother, I would still be doing all of this for you. Because you’re also my brother, and I love you. So I’m going to do whatever it takes to stay by your side and keep you safe.”

Why had I been so frustrated? I finally relented, and I hugged Citrine as hard as I could. Before I knew it, I was crying. “I love you too, Citrine, and I - I’m sorry about how I’m so...so…”

“You’re yourself. We’ll work around it,” Citrine said, smiling. “We’re brothers. We stick together until the end.”

****

**. . .**

When we later emerged from the cave, Iceblink looked almost disappointed for some reason. As we ate dinner, though, any tension disappeared along with our meal. The seasons were changing, and the Rift was starting to fill with the chill of autumn, soon to be winter.

Winters had always been hard. The last one I really remembered had been from a year ago, where the snowstorms had come quick and fierce and stayed until spring. The cold had been unbearable - even letting Citrine walk a few tail-lengths away was torture. It had been as if the northernmost lands of the Ice Kingdom had fallen down to our talons in an attempt to freeze us solid.

It had been so hard to find prey. I wasn’t able to hunt at all, and Citrine’s success was completely unpredictable. Almost everything still alive after the bitter frosts stayed underground, and the temperatures made the dirt rock-hard. The few animals that emerged to the surface were always scrawny.

But Citrine had always put me first. Whenever he actually caught something, I was the first to eat, and he would only help himself to the smallest of portions. Although I hadn’t realized how much it weakened him then… Now?

It was just a painful reminder.

Just a painful reminder of how much more young and naive and stupid I was compared to Citrine, who was two years my senior. Just a painful reminder of how I always took everything I had for granted, and never saw the things that really mattered. Just a painful reminder of how hard Citrine worked to keep us both alive, only to see the results pay off in the very worst way with an ungrateful little brother.

At least we had Iceblink now. With her, we would never go hungry again. No matter how much Citrine tried to protest it, I couldn’t deny what we both knew and wanted, deep down.

Mother - if she had ever really existed - hadn’t come back.

Maybe she could be replaced, though. There was something about Iceblink that just sucked me in every time I saw her, and I wanted to spend my whole life with her. She was the first dragon who’d ever made me feel truly at peace. Citrine tried hard, but that just wasn’t something he could give me.

Iceblink had started to carve away at a chunk of fallen rock, hammering at it with a small chisel. She often did that when she wasn’t busy. Curiously, I walked over to her side, and she wrapped a wing around my shoulders.

Citrine watched us with an unreadable expression for a long moment before heading back inside the cave, yawning. I ignored him, gazing in wonder at Iceblink’s talons. The stone between them was slowly taking shape, and before long, I realized that it was me.

“Wow!” I shouted. “That’s so cool! I want you to teach me how you do that.”

Iceblink smiled, and in the twilight it looked oddly warped and stretched at the edges. She handed me another slab of stone and a chisel, and I eagerly grabbed at them. “Maybe I will. I was taught by my father,” she whispered, looking to the sunset where I couldn’t see her face. “He was a master at his craft. I like to think that every little object I make is a piece of a memory. They string together to make a story.”

Who knew that statues could be so meaningful? “How do I fit into your story, then?” I gazed up at Iceblink eagerly.

She tapped the miniature stone version of my face. “This is the exact expression you made when you first saw me. From that very moment, I knew our destinies would be intertwined. We’re amazing dragons. We’ll do amazing things together.” Iceblink turned to look at me, still wearing that stretched smile. “All you have to do is say yes.”

Citrine had emerged from the cave and walked over to us quietly, sitting a short distance away. I didn’t look over at him, too entranced by Iceblink’s blue gaze. “Yes to what?”

Iceblink’s smile widened, and something came alight in her eyes. “The Rift is a dangerous place, and there are lots of bad dragons out there, Sunstone. Citrine. Bad dragons, with too much power in their claws, but we can stop them.” She leaned in close to me. “I have built a paradise. Safety and wonder for all dragons, where no one will ever go hungry again. Everyone has a purpose, and everyone works for the same goal. It is the beginning of utopia. If you wish…”

She stared us down.

“I am making you an offer. Come with me and live to be heroes. The foe we are up against needs a powerful enemy - and hybrids are always powerful. _You_ are powerful. I can take you to glory.” Iceblink had seemed to undergo a complete transformation, and I was in utter awe. Suddenly, the IceWing no longer just seemed friendly and warm. What she spoke of - power - seemed to radiate from the spaces between her scales. She tilted her head, and I did the same, hypnotized by the glacial blue of her eyes. “So...what do you say?”

_I…_  
_I want this._  
_It’s just like the scrolls I’ve been reading - I could be a real hero! Isn’t living life in the Rift pointless and boring? I’ll never be anything more than one dragon then. If I take this…_  
_Even Citrine won’t be able to deny that I’m not useless._  
_But I love living like this in the Rift. Citrine is finally a real brother to me._

“What’s the catch?” Citrine asked suddenly.

The trance was broken. I stared at him, suddenly and keenly aware of how cold Iceblink’s wing around me felt. With a start, I realized that her claws were clasped around mine like cold iron. Her shadow seemed impossibly dark, even in the evening, like an inky cloak of night cast to the ground beside her body.

Iceblink tilted her head. “Catch? What are you talking about, Citrine? Destiny doesn’t have a catch. You can take it, or you can leave it, but it always catches up to you eventually. The future doesn’t judge.” A gentle smile spread across her face, and the warm dragon I knew was back. “I’ll still be here for you, no matter what. I love you, don’t you know that? You’re like my own dragonets to me.”

Citrine glanced away. “I...I think that Sunstone and I would prefer just living on our own out here. We don’t need a glorious destiny. I mean, I get what you’re doing, defeating whatever bad guys are out there, but we don’t need happiness from that.” Citrine smiled hopefully at me. “We have each other. And that’s more than anything you can offer.”

Iceblink watched him with narrowed eyes for a moment before turning away. “I see. Don’t worry, though - even if you won’t join my cause, I’ll still be by your sides. _Every_ step of the way.”

She lifted her wing, and the air felt ten times warmer without her around me. I bounded towards Citrine, smiling back at Iceblink. “That sounds awesome! Like our very own secret guardian!” Iceblink laughed, and I grinned up at Citrine. “Isn’t that right? Iceblink is the best dragon ever. Promise me you’ll stay with us forever. Promise me!”

I bounced back over to her, flinging my wings around her body in a hug. Iceblink smiled, clasping my talons again. “I promise.”

“Maybe we’ll even defeat villains together like you said one day,” I said.

“Brothers first, though,” Citrine insisted, amber eyes glowing.

“Yeah. Brothers first.”


	9. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.8

~Citrine~

Iceblink had been a completely different dragon, if only for a few moments. I still wasn’t sure if I like that new version of her. I ushered Sunstone into the cave where we slept, glancing back out to the mountain ledge to find Iceblink still watching us. She was smiling the same beautiful smile she always had, but now…

I didn’t know why, but it felt so fake.

What if I was wrong to trust her? What if she’d lied that first day, and she actually did want something from us? It was my duty to protect Sunstone, no matter what he wanted. I wouldn’t make my past mistakes. But she’d healed him after the snakebite. The twin scars on his shoulder were reminders enough. Besides, she’d kept us fed and warm and played with us every moment she could.

_Like a mother._

I shoved the thought away. Sure, Iceblink treated us well, but I just didn’t feel as safe as I thought I should around her anymore. Just now, when Sunstone and I had been outside, the way she’d looked at him and held him…

_Possessive._

She’d had the exact same expression I would sometimes find Sunstone watching me with when he was really little - the expression he’d wear when I was out too long and he grew desperate for any form of attachment. The way her eyes had widened, the way she’d held my little brother so tightly until his scales became discolored from the pressure - it all matched.

It just felt so wrong, seeing that look on a dragon who was clearly an adult.

I didn’t even know what to think anymore. Sighing, I turned away and tucked Sunstone in between some ragged furs before lying down and winding my tail around him. I twisted the end of it around carefully so that my barb wouldn’t pierce his scales. I knew for sure that it had no poison from several failed hunting attempts, but I’d never forgive myself if I accidentally stabbed him in my sleep. I heard snoring, and I realized that Sunstone was already asleep. Smiling slightly, I shivered as I felt Iceblink curl around us and cover us with one of her wings. She hugged us, whispering in our ears.

“I love you.”

There was no way that I could feel suspicious anymore, not with her this close. Not with how much she reminded me of Mother in that moment. Finally closing my own eyes, I let myself drift into sleep. 

After a long while, the air seemed to grow warmer, and I realized the weight of Iceblink’s wing was gone. Just before I fully fell asleep, I heard the faint clicking of talons as someone left the cave. I opened my eyes a crack just in time to see a white figure leaping off of the ledge and out into the Rift. But I was too tired.

_Iceblink is...leaving?_

I listened but didn’t hear anything more, and I felt too tired to open my eyes again and investigate.

_It was probably my imagination._  
_She’ll be with us...in the morning._

****

**. . .**

It had been several weeks since the offer of going to Iceblink’s ‘paradise’, but none of us had ever mentioned it since. Iceblink would occasionally drop hints about it, but not a single word was ever really spoken. My concerns weren’t alleviated, though - when she thought Sunstone wasn’t looking, sometimes Iceblink would just stare at him.

She never did anything, but it still made me uncomfortable. I never could understand how Sunstone was so oblivious to her actions. He loved Iceblink like she was his real mother in a way that I couldn’t understand. I had this feeling that Iceblink had lied - that she wanted something from us, and she would do whatever she had to get that something. I just didn’t know what, and it scared me.

I also knew now that Iceblink leaving that night hadn’t been a sleep-induced vision. It had been real, and what was unsettling was that it was happening again and again. Without explanation, Iceblink would leave late in the night to go somewhere. Often, she wouldn’t return until dawn. It had only happened a few times, but it was starting to occur more and more often. However, it wasn’t that she was leaving that bothered me.

It was that she left without telling me or Sunstone, and timed her departures in a way that suggested that she didn’t want us to know that she was leaving. What could Iceblink be hiding from us? I had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the utopia she’d spoken of. So I stayed up late into the night, pretending to sleep while I tried to figure out what was going on. It never worked, and I never found out anything.

I knew that I wasn’t going to tell Sunstone anything until I knew something for sure. I respected his adoration for Iceblink too much to tell him my suspicions. Besides, what if he accidentally let slip to Iceblink? It probably wouldn’t end badly, but I didn’t want her to know what I was thinking.

_I don’t want her to think less of me._

I still hated that part of me that yearned for attention from someone that wasn’t Sunstone. I still hated how easily I could swap Iceblink out with Mother in my mind.

But it appeared that my silence had been for nothing, as I was growing too uncomfortable for my little brother not to notice. Tonight, I had waited for Iceblink while pretending to sleep as usual, but she hadn’t returned. After a while - too long of a while - I had gotten up and decided to wait for her at the ledge. I’d confront her when she returned. That way she couldn’t evade my questions. 

The moons were beginning to set, and the eastern horizon was beginning to pale. I gazed out at the perpetual darkness, beginning to worry. Craning my neck, I tried to see through the blackness. It hadn’t been long before Sunstone had realized that I wasn’t sleeping next to him. He too had awoken and was now sitting beside me as I waited.

“Why are you so worried about Iceblink?” Sunstone glared up at me tiredly. “She’ll come back. It’s not like she’s done this a lot. Let’s go back to sleep.”

“But she has. I didn’t want to tell you, but she does this nearly every night.” I started turning the pendant of the necklace over and back in my hands rapidly.

Sunstone gaped at me. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“Because you love her so much! And besides, how could I just tell you something like that without even knowing why…”

“Just telling me that wouldn’t make me stop loving Iceblink,” Sunstone insisted, injured. “You know that! But I don’t see why we should be suspicious of her.”

“I wish it would make you stop!” I flared. “I wish we had no reason to like her at all! Because now I don’t trust her anymore and I think she might even be working against us but I still want to spend my whole life with her! And I hate it!”

Sunstone glared at me. “Why do you even want to have something to hold against Iceblink so much?! All she wants is for us to be happy!”

“According to you,” I said. “But she’s been calculating this, I know she has. She never leaves if she thinks we’re still awake. Iceblink always tries as hard as she can to make sure we don’t know about the fact that she’s going somewhere. And I need to know why.”

Sunstone looked more convinced. “But… Citrine, for real, how long has she been doing this?”

“Since the day she went on that rambling spree about her little utopia or whatever. I knew something was up then. Maybe she was even leaving before then and I never realized it. I don’t know,” I said, clutching my horns.

A furrow appeared between Sunstone’s brows, and I sucked in a breath. I knew that more than anything, Sunstone hated being lied to. It was one of the few things that could really make him mad. If Iceblink had lied to Sunstone, he might actually never forgive her.

I held his shoulders. “Look, Sunstone, I have to find out what she’s doing. I…”

_She could be doing whatever she wants, behind our backs where we can’t see her._  
_I should just follow her and find out what she’s doing. She’ll never know._  
_It probably won’t be anything suspicious or anything that could put Sunstone in danger, but I have to figure it out. For Sunstone’s safety._  
_To uphold my promise to Mother._

“I’m going to follow her, Sunstone. I'll see if I can find out what she’s doing.” I smiled at him, trying to hide my pounding heart. “Don’t tell her when we get back. This has to be a secret.”

I walked to the cave entrance on shaking legs and was pulled back by the wings. “I’m coming with you,” Sunstone said, glaring up at me with his amber eyes.

_Same color as mine._

“You are not going on an adventure without me,” he insisted. “Besides, if Iceblink is actually doing something bad, which I doubt, then I should be there with you. Brothers first.”

I sighed. “But Sunstone, I have to keep you safe, and you’re not-”

“I _CAN_ be stealthy!”

“You practically yelled that! That’s not stealthy at all!” I stared at him, incredulous.

“I _can_ be stealthy,” he whispered loudly. 

I rolled my eyes with another sigh.

“Just let me come, okay? I promise I’ll do what you say. Please?” He gazed at me. “You’re always protecting me, and I want to do that for you, too. We’re brothers, after all.”

My gut told me not to, but my heart had already relented. I hugged him as tightly as I could. “I guess you’re right. You can come, but on a couple conditions. You have to stay close, and you have to do everything I tell you to. Iceblink can’t ever know about this.”

Sunstone grinned and nodded, and I took that as an agreement. “Okay,” I said finally. “She usually goes southeast. I guess...we’ll just go that way. Follow me.”

I leaped off the mountain ledge into the dawn sky, Sunstone following me a heartbeat later as I turned southeast. I grinned back at him through my fear and exhilaration. “Together until the end?”

Sunstone grinned. “That’s right. Until the end.”


	10. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.9

~Sunstone~

I followed Citrine as quietly as I possibly could, being careful not to disturb the tops of the trees as I flew over them. Citrine had told me to fly as low as possible so we wouldn’t risk being spotted by Iceblink if she was resting somewhere. We flew like that over the forest for a long while, about half an hour, before Citrine took a sharp inhale and stopped in mid-air. I nearly slammed into his back.

“Iceblink,” he whispered, pointing to a white figure in the distance. She was heading towards some tall rock spires carved from the wind. They seemed blurry in the distance, but they stood like otherworldly pillars that had grown straight out of the Rift. Citrine nudged me. “We have to catch up. Come on.”

Citrine sped up slightly as the morning fog began to roll in, distorting the formations ahead. As we arrived in the maze of stone towers, the mist wrapped around us too, like threads from spiderwebs pulling us into the dawn shadow. Iceblink was barely visible, and we fought to keep her in sight while staying out of hers.

From a distance, we heard Iceblink land, and Citrine and I copied her as quietly as possible, landing behind a strange fence made of stones that had somehow been melded together. To our right, a flat boulder with faded words etched into its stone stared at us. 

**WELCOME TO CRYSTALLOFOLIA**

Beyond it, I could see the dilapidated remains of buildings and burnt-out street-lamps. Rubble was piled in corners and alleys, and the mist covered the landscape like a shroud.

_A village, here of all places?_  
_Why is Iceblink here?_

Citrine frowned at the letters, equally puzzled. He pushed my head low to the ground so I wouldn’t be seen, and we peeked out from behind the stone wall just in time to see Iceblink’s whiplike tail disappear behind another wall of small stones. Creeping closer, Iceblink appeared to be standing on an expanse of flat square stones, almost like tiles of a sort. The entire area was covered in fallen stones, in the shape of rectangles and squares, like bricks but with softer edges.

The fog had rolled in completely, and while Iceblink stood only a few feet away, I couldn’t make out any of her finer features. I hoped feverently that she couldn’t make out any of ours, either. I shared Citrine’s concerns of not being seen - it wouldn’t be good if Iceblink saw us. I was sure now that we weren’t supposed to be here.

That brought to light the way she held herself, and it was a pose I had never seen before, at least not on her body. It made her seem almost unnatural, like a doll that had been purposely posed by its owner. 

Iceblink was standing upright, her head lifted as if she were royalty, and her wings were raised and flared. It made her appear slightly bigger and much more regal than she ever let herself act. Her eyes glittered like hard ice, and her mouth was a thin, displeased line. Despite the light of day, her shadow seemed darker than ever, monstrously warped by the indentations between the stones in the ground. She was staring out into the gray mist, gaze steely, almost as if she was waiting for something.

_Or someone?_

I turned to Citrine, opening my mouth to comment, but Citrine glared at me before I could say a word. Taking the hint, I turned back to watching Iceblink. Figures shifted behind the mist, and Citrine and I stiffened, staring hard at the shapes. Three dragons emerged, stalking towards Iceblink. What were they going to do? Did they want to hurt her? I wouldn’t let them do anything to her as long as I was standing.

But then I realized how cautious they looked. They way they lowered their heads, and the way Iceblink’s gaze seemed to fit them into invisible boxes… These dragons couldn’t possibly be a threat. I glanced at Citrine, and his brow was furrowed. Studying the scene in front of us, it appeared that the newcomers consisted of another IceWing, a MudWing, and a SkyWing with muscles so large and stretched so tight over his bones he looked almost like a disproportionate statue.

Iceblink narrowed her eyes at the sight of them. “You’re late.” She sounded so...distasteful. Angry, even.

The other IceWing...bowed? “My sincerest apologies, Leader.” The MudWing shifted on her claws nervously, and the SkyWing gazed at Iceblink, expression completely blank.

_Leader?_

Iceblink continued, freezing tone carrying out over the stone. “Action is necessary, and soon. I will not remain away from the Compound much longer, let alone keep hiding my tracks. I already have suspicions that the elder of the two may be starting to get his own ideas.”

The other IceWing sighed, wringing his talons. It was hard to tell in the mist, but for some reason, they seemed oddly short. “That’s a shame. Looks like there’s only one option left - did your plan end up working for the one you were most interested in?”

“The youngest would trust me with his life,” Iceblink said, voice cold but assured. “But the other is expendable. We must make our move. The wait is up. They won’t even know what hit them.”

I stared at Citrine, puzzled and slightly fearful. Who was Iceblink talking about? Citrine’s eyes were wide with horror, almost as if he suddenly understood something terrible that I didn’t.

_What is Iceblink saying?!_  
_I don’t understand it! It’s like she actually wants to hurt someone._

The other IceWing and MudWing began arguing, too soft for us to hear. The SkyWing continued to gaze at Iceblink, almost hungrily but with glassy eyes that reminded me of the fish in the river near our cave.

Iceblink glared at him, eyes raking over his figure like jagged icicles. “Potoo, why don’t you scout out the area? Not much sense in staying here doing nothing.”

The SkyWing, Potoo, jolted upright and ducked his head. “Of course,” he coughed out, launching into a stilted march. His gait immediately turned into a swagger - and he was headed straight for us.

The SkyWing’s demeanor would have been hilarious if not for the fact that we were about to be discovered. If Iceblink knew we were here, she’d never trust us again. And I couldn’t bear it if that was the case. Citrine grasped his horns and began to rock back and forth, muttering softly under his breath. I huddled close to him, eyes stinging with tears. We weren’t supposed to be here! And who were these other dragons? They didn’t look friendly at all.

Potoo’s footsteps seemed to grow louder and louder, like thunder carried by the weight of his bulky frame. The way tissue and sinew bulged around his body was almost grotesque, like a lumpy clay statue with too much water that had boiled in the sun. I bit my tongue to keep from sobbing out loud, but I was frozen to the ground anyway.

The SkyWing walked straight past us, seemingly still lost in his own brain, and melted into the mist. Citrine stared after him, letting go of his horns slowly.

The other IceWing and MudWing started to argue louder, looking angry. “We can wait a little longer! We need these dragonets to trust us completely,” the MudWing insisted. “Flurry, you don’t understand how crucial their trust is!”

The IceWing’s - Flurry’s - front talons flew above his head in exasperation. They appeared scarred, and morbidly stunted. “That’s second-in-command to you. And I know what you’re scheming, MudWing. You think you can buy them escape? Not so fast, Caiman. You are nothing but a simple scout. We don’t need them to trust us in order to recruit them. The same has been true for every trainee and graduate.”

Iceblink lashed her tail, snarling. “Enough!” The two dragons turned to her, instantly cowed despite their tribal differences. Her dark shadow fell over them like watery paint, and she suddenly seemed much larger than I remembered.

_What’s happening? What are they talking about? What dragonets?_  
_Why is Iceblink so different? Where’s the dragon I know?_

“We’ll recruit them at sunset tonight,” she ordered. “No sooner, no later. As we know, the pair are hybrids - SandWing and SkyWing ancestry. The eldest has a barb, so be careful. Poison unconfirmed at this time, but it’s long and sharp enough that there can be no room for error.”

Suddenly, I heard Citrine choke, and I turned to find rust-colored talons wrapped around his throat. He clawed at them desperately, and I barely managed to shout for help in dismay before talons wrapped around mine as well.

All three dragons ahead turned to stare at us, Iceblink’s eyes going wide with shock or anger. I couldn’t tell, but I already regretted everything. At least I hadn’t let Citrine do this alone. My body flooded with purpose and adrenaline, and I gasped, kicking out and lashing around with my tail. Although it didn’t have a barb, it connected with Potoo’s flesh and he nearly dropped me as he flinched. I bit down on his talons as hard as I could, hearing a wet crunch, and he roared, letting go of both of us. A few droplets of red sailed through the air before splattering across the grass.

Citrine and I crashed onto the ground. I stared desperately at Iceblink, willing her to make a move to save us from the unfamiliar dragons, but she didn’t move. She looked too shocked and angry to say anything. Citrine had his tail curled over his back like a scorpion, positioned into a fighting stance I’d never seen him use before. His wings pressed against mine, and then we were back to back. “Together until the end,” he ground out. “I’ll protect you.”

Before I could respond, Iceblink sprung to life. “That’s them,” she roared, shooting frostbreath towards the dirt at our claws. “Those are our dragonets. _SEIZE THEM!”_

With astonishing speed, she lunged towards me, almost a blur of white. I glimpsed an object - a fist? - arcing down towards me from the corner of my eye, and I screamed. Citrine had just turned around when the object crashed into my skull. The whole world seemed to rattle and swim in front of my eyes, and I barely registered my brother’s face covered in a mask of rage and horror before everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week, Act I (Stranger from the Sky) will conclude. We’ll finally be getting into the real meat of this story very soon :)


	11. Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.10

~Citrine~

Sunstone screamed behind me, the noise cutting through my ears like a jagged knife. The sound of it made my stomach curdle, and I almost gagged. I whirled around to shield him, only to see Iceblink rearing up in front of my brother’s tiny figure. Her white fist slammed into the base Sunstone’s skull, and he dropped to the ground like a stone. I roared, diving towards him, but red talons dragged me backwards, digging into my back.

_“WHY?!”_ I screamed at Iceblink as Potoo dragged me away from my brother. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?! HOW COULD YOU HURT HIM?! _I HATE YOU! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”_

I surged forward again, but Potoo’s talons only cut deeper, tearing jagged lines in my back. In a flash, the area between my wings became hot and wet with blood, and my back began to sting with blazing pain. I made a noise somewhere between a scream and a gasp, shocked by how much it hurt.

I swung my claws in an arc towards Potoo, but he dodged out of the way. Instead of mauling the SkyWing, I only left a few bleeding lines along his side. They didn’t even look deep enough to scar. But his talons were gone, and I was free. Leaping away from him, I spun in a circle to find Iceblink flying away.

A sand-colored figure dotted with red speckles was hanging limp in her talons, completely unconscious.

“SUNSTONE!” I roared. “I’M COMING! WAIT! _STOP!”_

He already looked too far away to get to quickly enough, and I felt my hope crack as a broad MudWing snout blocked my view. Heavy forearms pinned me to the earth.

“I’m sorry,” the MudWing whispered. “But you’d thank me if you knew what was coming. No one escapes Leader Iceblink.”

I roared unintelligibly, lashing out with my tail. My vision was a blur, and my body still felt charged with adrenaline, but I still shuddered as the barb made contact with her thick hide. The MudWing roared in surprise and pain, and I barely ducked out of the way of a weak bolt of flame as I rolled.

_I’m sorry too, but I won’t let anyone keep me from Sunstone._

She clutched at her side, just beneath her ribs. It had been a messy, dirty hit, but it had done the trick. The huge MudWing stumbled back and I shoved her even further away with my hind claws. She collapsed and started gasping and choking, spitting blood. The dragon spasmed for a few moments, glaring at me with eyes as wide as the moons. I instinctively reached for her, guilt poisoning my resolve, but I still flinched back.

_I’m going to save my brother. I’m going to save Sunstone, no matter what._  
_Because I promised Mother, and I…_  
_I really love him. I won’t lose him. I won’t leave him all alone like Mother did._  
_Together until the end._  
_But only if I live to see it._

I sprung to my claws and spread my wings, rearing up to lift off. I lunged into the air and made it about half the length of my wingspan before I was yanked back down by the tail. I flipped my head around, dizzy, to find that the SkyWing held my tail in his grasp. The grip was tighter than a vise, and stars danced in my vision from the pain. I could feel the tendons scraping against bone, and a strangled gasp hitched in my breath. He started dragging me towards a skeletal tree at the edge of the clearing, sparks flying from between his teeth as he gnashed them.

“You will not touch Iceblink!” he roared, voice garbled and almost unintelligible.

_Let go of me! I can’t lose now!_  
_My brother..._

I thrashed, but it made no difference against his monstrous momentum. The SkyWing threw me against the tree, and my jaw slammed against the base of my skull. Everything blurred as I fell to the ground and gasped, retching.

“Sunstone,” I choked out, and the world spun, flickering dark to painfully bright to dark again. My head hurt. My back was a beacon of pain. Everything ached, like every scale I had was bruised. My brother was only a dot in the sky, carried by white wings I would never find the strength to catch.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

The world spun into darkness.

****

**. . .**

Warm, early morning light flooded into my eyes and I opened them slowly, turning to find a grove of star-shaped yellow flowers sprouting from thorny bushes. I picked up a handful of yellow petals in my palms, knowing exactly why they seemed so familiar.

_Wait._  
_Where’s Sunstone?_

My tranquility was instantly punctured by an all-consuming fear. I didn’t see him anywhere. Panicking, I leaped up and darted over to the closest of the flowering bushes. I tore it apart, desperately hoping to find Sunstone uninjured and curled up underneath, but to my disappointment, there was nothing except a pile of scrolls stacked neatly inside, scattered among yellow petals. Hoping I would find something that could help me reach Sunstone, I reached for one and unraveled it swiftly but gently, not wanting to damage the message inside. Despite never really learning to read, it all made perfect sense.

**YOU CAN’T SAVE HIM**

The same phrase repeated over and over again on every single line of the rough papyrus. I continued to unwind the scroll, desperate to find something else written, but it seemed to go on forever as the same words kept reappearing. Inexplicably, the ink turned a deep crimson color and began to roll off the paper in thick rivulets of a coppery-smelling liquid.

_Three moons._  
_I just want to know where my little brother is!_

It gushed all over my talons and claws, staining them a sickening shade of red, and I shuddered, a bitter taste rising in the back of my throat. I violently thrust it away, back into the pile of scrolls that had started to seep blood from their rolls. Now even the bushes and flowers were bleeding, and soon the whole outcropping of stone was covered in red. Lights began to flash behind my eyes like sparks.

_WHERE IS SUNSTONE?!_

I felt heat flickering to life in my chest. Panicking, I set the scrolls ablaze. The fire leaped to the surrounding bushes, and everything began to burn, glowing ashes floating down from the dark sky. Everything around me seemed to grow larger, twisting and distorting, but maybe I was just shrinking. I turned in a circle only to find that I was completely trapped by the unrelenting inferno.

_How could I do that? Now I’ll never get out of here._  
_What if the scroll was right?_  
_What if I can’t save him?_

“You promised me we’d be okay!” White scales and ominous red eyes flashed through the smoke and blood, and a faraway voice called from somewhere beyond the fire. It wasn’t one I had heard before, but it echoed in my ears and rattled around in my brain like hollow bones.

“You promised her you would protect me!” the voice called again, this time in a different pitch, and I recognized it as Sunstone.

“Sunstone!” I screamed back uselessly. “I’m here! I’ll protect you! Just tell me where you are! _Sunstone!”_

An undulating wail broke through the hissing and crackling of the fire, rising in pitch and volume until it filled my ears completely. 

“NO! MAKE IT STOP, _MAKE IT STOP! SUNSTONE!”_ I whirled around, covering my ears desperately as I searched for Sunstone through the fire and burning bushes. Suddenly, as I turned around again, a small dragon stood in front of me. The wailing abruptly muted into silence, and the sand-pale dragon stared at me, his amber eyes devoid of emotion, of life. They were the same hue as mine, but stripped of the strange magic that had made them so alive.

_Sunstone._

I reached for him, but suddenly charred, black, blistering burns ripped through his scales, and Sunstone became unrecognizable. Dark, ash-filled blood began to cascade from the burns, his eyes, his mouth. I stumbled back in revulsion. “S-Sunstone?”

The blood rushed faster, turning his eyes to empty craters, stripping the flesh from his bones, until all that remained was a skeleton turned black from the smoke. It continued to stare at me silently, and the only sound left in the world was my panicked breathing and the distant crackle of the flames. Suddenly, the skeleton caved in on itself, and amid the noise of ugly snapping, the last of Sunstone turned to dust and disappeared into the firestorm around me.

A small patch of scroll drifted down in front of me, flame slowly devouring the papyrus.

**YOU CAN’T SAVE HIM**

**. . .**

I woke with a jolt, gasping as I tore myself from the dream.

_You can’t save him._

I shook my throbbing head, rising slowly and painfully. I was in a very dark, very cold enclosed space, small enough to feel claustrophobic. Frost and mildew were gathering in the stone corners. Shivering, I tried to step towards the thick bars at the end of one wall, the faintest light shining through them.

I couldn’t go any farther than a tail-length, and as I struggled, I looked back to find rusted iron manacles wrapped around my ankles and a strange iron case covering my tail-tip, rendering the barb useless. All of it was attached to the stone wall with a chain.

I gave up and sat down, pressing my wings to my sides and curling my tail around me, trying to find any warmth in the chill of the stone around me. My joints creaked, and the dried wounds on my back flared with pain again. I knew they’d scar. It would probably look awful once it had healed over. Instinctively, I reached for Mother’s amber necklace, but the silver chain links were missing.

A cold shock crept through my scales, and I looked around, panic threatening to overtake my mind again. No silver glinted in the corners. No pendant to be found on the floor.

_It can’t be gone now. It just can’t. It’s all I have left from Mother!_

A scraping noise echoed from the front of the cell, and I turned to find the barest outline of a dragon standing in front of me, the darkness rendering it impossible to tell who it was. The dragon stepped closer, and I recognized the glacial, distant hue of her eyes.

_Iceblink._

She stared at me with an unfathomable expression, and my anger blazed to life. If rage was a substance, it poured into the cracks between my bones and set my heart on fire. It filled my body with a wave of fiery heat and turned my vision into pinpricks focused on the dragon in front of me. “You betrayed us.”

Iceblink frowned at me coldly. “I did what had to be done. A dragonet like you would never understand.” She held out her talons, and familiar silver chains and an amber pendant swung lazily from them. “Looking for this?”

I reached for it, hope clouding the rage. Was she actually offering it to me?

_She really just took it from you, didn’t she._

But she was beyond the limits of my shackles, and I could only grasp for it desperately as Iceblink stood there, necklace in hand. The only item I received from my efforts was an indifferent stare. Without warning, she dropped the necklace, and the pendant shattered into a thousand broken pieces. My heart cracked, and my breath caught and a lump rose in my throat.

_How could you?_

I clawed for the remnants of the necklace desperately, but Iceblink just walked towards me, her back talons crushing the last of the silver chain links. I stared at the glittering shards littering the floor in horror.

Iceblink and I were face to face with each other now, and she began to speak, her voice jarringly cold and unfamiliar. The warm protector I’d known, vanished. Just like Mother, except now she was something worse. Her dark, dark shadow stretched behind her, almost like an entity of its own. “Dragons can be so clueless; dragonets even more so. Lost in the Rift, with no one to guide you, with everyone you loved gone… What were you supposed to do? Who were you supposed to be? What you wanted didn’t matter. All you could do was survive.”

I stared at her, not understanding. She continued. “But you’re in a better place now. You won’t go hungry. You won’t be chained down by responsibilities you never wanted. You won’t be faced with difficult decisions any longer, because I’ll make them for you. Maybe you don’t understand now, but you’ll thank me one day. I’ve saved you from a useless life.”

“How did you save me?! I don’t want to be saved! Where’s Sunstone?!” I backed up as far as I could go, stopping only when the chill of the stone wall behind me touched my scales. Iceblink advanced, as calm as ever.

“Now, you can finally be the dragon you were destined to be. There’s nothing left to hold you back. No one you’ll have to wait for.” Iceblink smiled, almost warmly, but it felt like a cheap imitation. “I’m giving you a new purpose and a life that will matter. You’ll be one of many, and you’ll change the world one day. Don’t worry, you won’t be anyone important. Just a pawn, but still better than a nobody. You’ll be grateful.”

I began to shrink down, cowering against the raw cold of the floor beneath me.

_Iceblink, where’s the dragon I know?_  
_And where is Sunstone?_

Iceblink caressed my cheek with a freezing claw before pinching it sharply and grabbing my chin. Her talons dug into my jaw like nails, and I cringed away, but I couldn’t see anything past her frozen blue eyes and empty smile. “Have you ever wondered what happened to your parents? Have you ever assumed that they would be anything except alive? They left you in the dust, but I can replace them. I can give you something better than either of them ever could.”

I glared up at her. The rage had returned, almost blinding me. “SHE’S ALIVE! SHE SAID SHE WOULD COME BACK; DON’T YOU _DARE_ SAY OTHERWISE!” 

Iceblink’s smile dripped with sympathy, like half-frozen honey sticky with flies and writhing worms. “But she never did. I sought her out like everyone else, and she could only let me take her. She’s dead, Citrine. They’re all dead. Don’t even ask about Cyclone; I know Javelina watched him die with her own eyes.” Iceblink’s smile twisted into a smirk, her piercing blue eyes stabbing into my soul as she loomed over me.

Tears overflowed from my eyes, and I silently screamed at myself to stop crying. My fists trembled, but I didn’t have the strength to retaliate against her. Deep down...I’d always known they’d been dead. It had just been a fact. But I had to protect Sunstone. I had to be there for him, and I needed to have something to keep me going.

_But does that mean my promise was all for nothing, doomed from the very start?_  
_No. I HAVE to protect Sunstone._

I blinked away the panicked tears in my eyes. _“WHERE IS SUNSTONE?!”_ The words emerged as a half-sob, half-scream.

Iceblink went silent, and her half-smile curled into a faint frown. Somehow, although it finally matched her emotions, it still sent a dangerous chill down my spine. “Oh, him?” she crooned. “I tore him apart slowly in the very same cave you hid him in all those years ago. First tore his wings off, then ripped out his talons and teeth one by one. Then slit his throat, and finally cut out his heart to feed it to the wriggling maggots in the dirt. _‘Citrine, Citrine! Save me!’”_ She pantomimed, mimicking his cries.

I stared up at her, my jaw slack. Something in my chest was closing up, crushing in on itself and detaching me from the reality in front of me. She couldn’t have. All those times she sat with Sunstone, carving with him, teaching him about the world so lovingly and diligently couldn’t have led to this. She wouldn’t have. Nobody could be that cruel.

Iceblink’s sick smile returned, and her shadow seemed to copy her. “The Iceblink you knew never existed. I just needed her to bring you to this cause, but not every plan executes flawlessly. From now on, I am Leader Iceblink. The future is already here, and you’ll thank me for ridding you of your chains when the time comes. You’re finally free.” She let go of my chin, brushing my cheek again, and she turned towards the exit, opening the door and letting the dim light filter in. “…Oh, and Citrine? Welcome to the Compound.”

The door slammed behind her, locking me inside inescapable darkness. I sat up, rubbing my head with my palms and struggling against an invisible weight that pulled at my shoulders and covered my eyes. Everything else in my conscience dissipated, and I could only stand there, unable to summon the energy to think or even feel. The world around me barely felt real. A while later, the thoughts in my head began to swirl, repeating in an endless cycle.

_Sunstone is gone. Forever. Mother and Father are too. The dragon I imagined that even for a moment could replace them was just an act. A lie._  
_All I have left..._  
_Is myself._  
_My useless, worthless, disgusting failure of a self._  
_Sunstone is gone._

Slowly, almost unconsciously, I let the last of my hope wink out. Iceblink had destroyed me, and I had practically let her. I’d failed. I’d broken my promise.

_You stole away everything that I had, and you didn’t even have to try. I stood idly by while you took my brother and our independence and crushed them between your talons._  
_Maybe it’s my fault, but who says I’ll just let you get away with it?_  
_It’s my fault, but who says I’ll just let you control me?_

I took a deep breath before exhaling slowly, still brimming with rage and aching confusion, but somehow empty. I wiped at my tears and shakily hardened my face into an unreadable expression, watching the cell door through the murky gloom.

_Iceblink will pay._  
_I’ll be the one to end this, no matter how long I have to wait._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, we’ve reached the end of the Stranger from the Sky arc. This chapter was one of the harder ones to write, with all the complex emotions, but we think it turned out pretty well. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading, and Arc II will begin next week! Feel free to leave your thoughts and predictions down below - we want to know your opinion and what you think will happen next :)


	12. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything has changed for Citrine and Sunstone. They’ve been spirited away to a Compound in the clouds, where life is twice as cruel but somehow just as beautiful as it was in the wilderness of the Rift. Separated and unsure of the other’s survival, they’ll each have to learn how to live again - but the puppeteer pulling the strings behind the curtain will surely stand in their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoy! Feel free to tell us what you think in the comments :)

~Sunstone~

I woke slowly, opening my eyes to the soft glow of lanterns. As I came to, I realized I was sprawled on top of a pile of soft and shimmering white furs with a gauzy canopy above me. The floor was beautifully sculpted marble tile, and lanterns hung from colorful silk ribbons hooked to the tall, domed ceiling covered in paintings of the mountains. 

To the left, two ornate, jeweled glass double doors were opened, leading to a stone deck overlooking a huge, mirror-like lake that reflected the cloudy autumn sky. It was set in the middle of a stone basin nestled between huge mountains. A cold wind blew in, ruffling the sheer white curtains above embroidered with gold thread, but an unknown heat source kept the room at a comfortably warm temperature.

To my right, there was a shining basalt couch inlaid with what appeared to be gold, and more white furs were draped across the seat. Beside the couch was a massive wooden door with a glistering pane of shaped glass in its center gilded with shining platinum. Upon peering inside, I found that it led to a narrow marble stairwell. It was only about two or three steps high, and it lead to an enormous library nearly overflowing with scrolls. 

In the wall to the right of the bed where I sat, an extravagantly carved cypress door lead into the unknown. I briefly wondered whether I should open it and go through, but I decided against it. I had no clue where I was, and no idea how to get back if the outside world was unfamiliar. 

_Am I in paradise?_

That might have been true, given the amount of luxury that I was surrounded by, but where was Citrine? Together until the end; that was what he’d said. He had to be nearby, but I didn’t see any sign of him anywhere.

I lay on the canopied bed, unsure of what to do for a long while before the knob on the wooden door suddenly turned. I stared at it, startled, and the door opened, revealing Iceblink. She strolled in briskly, smiling warmly at me before closing the door softly behind her.

I beamed at her, and the tension in my muscles melted away like snow under the sun. At least I knew she was safe. “Iceblink, where were you? What happened? Who were those dragons from before?”

She hugged me, rubbing my head with her talons and sitting down beside me on the furs. “Let me explain. It’s...difficult.” Iceblink’s voice was heavy with some unseen burden. “Sunstone, during the days we spent in our cave...we were not alone. There are evil, evil dragons in the Rift and the world beyond in Pyrrhia. I should have figured it out sooner, but we...we were being watched.”

“What?” I stared at her in horror. The entire time I’d spent with her...had we really not been safe? “Seriously?”

Iceblink nodded. “It’s true. As soon as I figured it out, I knew I had to do something. That was why I kept leaving in the night - did Citrine tell you about that? - to make negotiations. To keep you safe. But they weren’t satisfied with what I could give them. I’m just glad you were with me in those last few moments. Who knows what could have happened if you weren’t...”

I hugged her back. “You saved me.”

“Yes,” she whispered, and the end of the word sounded like a hiss. “I saved you.”

“So you were acting, that entire time in...in…”

“Crystallofolia? Yes. That was just a ploy to fool who could have been your captors. The other IceWing you saw, Flurry - he’s working with me as well. Don’t worry. You’ll see him quite a lot now.” Iceblink patted my head reassuringly. “Never fear, Sunstone. I am always on your side.”

I leaned into her, relieved but still confused. “Where’s Citrine, though? And where are we right now?”

“We are in utopia. My utopia, built from the ground up from the claws of dragons like you and me.” She took my talons and helped me rise to my feet, not giving me a chance to question anything as she led me through the glittering glass double doors and onto a balcony.

On the deck, there were several intricate gargoyles that reminded me of Iceblink’s carved statues. The balcony of sorts overlooked not only the shining lake, but a vast expanse of bare gray stone surrounding it. Along the rocky shore of the lake, the sheer cliffs were riddled with holes and windows, and I could see the distant forms of other dragons flying around them.

The whole thing was set in the middle of a gigantic basin nestled in an even larger mountain, the peaks of the mountain reaching up around us. It felt like a gargantuan nest, large enough to hold every dragon in the Rift comfortably. My room and balcony were set into the highest peak, far from the rest of the busy mountain. Four tall spires of black stone stood on the outside slopes of the mountain, one for each of the cardinal directions. Though the sky was overcast and gray, the sun’s light still filtered through the clouds, lighting up the black towers and shedding warm rays onto the scene.

Iceblink grinned at me, the continual gusts of wind buffeting her wings. “This is the Compound, Sunstone! A safe haven I’ve created for dragons in a chaotic world filled with turmoil. Pyrrhia doesn’t know it yet, but the Compound is the start of the future. Heroes are born and raised for greatness here, Sunstone; trainees and graduates, and you’re one of them. No one will be forced to live a mundane life; to be a forgotten nobody. I chose you to be the greatest of them all, and to lead them in times of peril. You are not just meant to be a hero, Sunstone. You are meant to be my heir. The next Leader of them all.”

I gazed out at the Compound, my eyes dancing. 

_A hero? An heir...to this whole place? Me? It’s a dream come true._  
_But..._

“If this is so important, why didn’t you mention I’d be the Heir before? Did you really build this place? How? And when? Why have I been living in a cave when I could’ve been here from the beginning? With Citrine. Citrine should be here, by my side. I shouldn’t have all this without him.” I glowered at Iceblink, then pointed to the lake. “What about all the dragons down there? Were they forced to live in caves before they could come here too? Who were the bad guys that tried to hurt us earlier? Will I get to meet all those dragons outside?”

Iceblink chuckled, brushing off my serious expression with a gentle touch to my cheek. “My dear, there’s nothing to worry about. I try to bring every dragon I can into the Compound. Once you are ready, and once they are ready, you will all meet. You’ll be crowned with the title of Leader, and you will save the Ice - all of the dragon tribes from the danger that is coming. But not yet.” She ushered me inside, shutting the glass double doors. “Some of them are still unprepared. Some might still try to take advantage of you, with you this young. So until I say you’re ready, never leave these rooms. It’s for your safety, Sunstone.

“Although I am the one who saved you and brought you here, eventually, you will be the one to save us all. Just you wait, Sunstone. My little prince.” I hopped onto the pile of furs, already forgetting my anger as I bounced up and down. Despite the confusing circumstances, everything had turned out better than I could have ever hoped. Iceblink smiled at me. “You may not have been born to be a ruler, but I’ll make you one.”

_And where is he?_  
_Why didn’t you answer the rest of my questions?_

I was starting to worry. Was Iceblink avoiding my questions?

Suddenly, a knock came at the wooden door, and Iceblink moved to answer it. Watching curiously, I witnessed a short exchange between her and a tiny dull gray-blue RainWing, the little dragonet handing Iceblink a covered basket.

The maid was young, younger than me. Her eyes were a bright yellow, like lemons or daffodils, contrasting the muddy gray of her scales. They widened as she realized I was staring at her. The small RainWing ducked, embarrassed, and worried a delicate-looking white lace choker around her neck.

“Thank you, Pineapple. You may go. I do hope you’ll enjoy your new position serving the young Heir. What an honor! But do try and look more cheerful, _dear.”_ Iceblink’s voice was quiet, but something about it seemed tense. With a blank expression, Pineapple bowed slightly and left, scales shifting to a paler lavender speckled with gold. Iceblink smiled tightly before closing the door behind the RainWing. 

“Pineapple is your maid,” she explained. “If you ever need her, you can ring for her using this bell.” Iceblink pointed to a contraption on the wall. “Be gentle with her, please. Pineapple has… a delicate personality.”

Iceblink carried the covered basket back to me, opening it and presenting its mouth-watering contents. The woven contraption was filled to the brim with delicious-looking food, the cuisine including fragrant juicy fruits, roasted and dried savory meats, and even some sort of elegant roasted fish diced and served over flared lettuce leaves and lemon garnish. Iceblink arranged the feast on gold-rimmed dishes, and we devoured it in silence as the food was too good to pause for conversation.

After we had finished, the maid, Pineapple, returned to remove the dishes and basket, struggling under their weight. Her before-vibrant scales had turned back to a mournful gray-blue. She didn’t look at me once, and I could see that it bothered Iceblink.

_Strange. Is she sad? Someone should try to cheer her up._  
_I have more important things to worry about, though._  
_Where is Citrine? I haven’t seen him anywhere!_

Iceblink led me to the fur-covered couch, and she began to speak before I could ask. “In order to be a hero, a Leader, you must learn. The other IceWing you saw yesterday - he, too, was acting. His name is Flurry, and I appointed him my current second-in-command. He’s a wonderful dragon. Flurry will teach you the ways of the world - he will be the one to give you your true skills. But the only way you will ever lead the dragons here is if you accept his teachings.”

“Of course I’ll do that,” I said earnestly. “I… I’m so glad I’m here!” Who knew Iceblink was connected with so many dragons? And Leader of this place, even. It was amazing that she’d created this. It was a completely different world compared to what I’d lived with in the Rift. Out there life had been so simple, but so difficult. All I could do was try to survive each day while Citrine did the work.

But now… I was the Heir. I could do something. I could help dragons. I’d finally be good for something instead of a useless dead weight to burden my brother.

_I can finally show him I can be better._

“You’ll learn from a lot of subjects, but you must have some sort of way to unwind. So, I’ve designated times where we can just hang out and have fun. Weren’t you interested in carving and sculpting once you saw me do it?” Iceblink questioned.

I nodded. “I’d love to learn how you do it! It’s so amazing. Please teach me!”

“I will, in due time.” Iceblink glanced out through the glass doors. “The sun is setting, Sunstone. Unfortunately, I must go soon. Don’t forget - you can’t leave this floor.”

“Okay, but why? The dragons below can’t be that bad,” I protested. “Won’t staying up here all the time get boring?”

“They are not yet prepared to meet the Heir,” Iceblink said again. “And I’ll prepare them. But before they are ready, it may be dangerous for you to venture out into the rest of my paradise. This is the Rift, after all, and many of the dragons here didn’t have the best lives before I found them.”

“Doesn’t sound like paradise if I can’t go walk around in it,” I muttered.

“Please,” Iceblink begged, mouth forming a line. “This will be the one thing I ever ask of you. It’s only for your safety.”

There was a tense pause, but I finally sighed and relented. “Okay. But…”

“Yes, dear?” Iceblink seemed almost reluctant, as if she knew what I was going to ask.

“I just need to know, and you haven’t told me anything. I know I shouldn’t be worried, but…” I sat up slowly, letting blankets slide from my wings. “Where is Citrine?”

Iceblink’s calm demeanor seemed to evaporate, and her shoulders sagged. She turned to the side, and I spotted tears glimmer in the corners of her eyes. Her face grew haggard, and the cold, unforgiving truth surrounding Citrine’s absence suddenly hit me like a stone.

_No._  
_What if we aren’t together until the end?_  
_No. NO!_

She rushed back over to the bed, pulling me to her chest, wrapping her wings around me. “I’m so, so sorry, Sunstone. I was only able to save one of you.” I began to shake, and tears spilled over, running down my snout. “He was already gone when I went back.”

I shook my head, still in denial. “W-What do you mean he’s gone? He’ll come back! _HE’LL COME BACK!”_ Iceblink hugged me tighter, and shaking, I could feel tears of her own dripping onto my head. _“TOGETHER UNTIL THE END, THAT’S WHAT HE SAID! UNTIL THE END! HE’S NOT GONE!”_

“I’m so sorry, Sunstone. He can’t come back. He’s dead.” The weight of those final words echoed in my head, bouncing around the walls of my ears until they were all I could hear.

_He’s dead._  
_Dead._  
_DEAD._  
_Has it all been for nothing? Every moment we spent, doomed to only be a memory?_

I sobbed, the tears and the pain rushing out of me in an anguished wail. This was it. I’d never see him again. What was the last thing I said to him? I couldn’t remember. When was the last time I hugged him? I couldn’t recall. It had almost been his sixth birthday. Had I even thought about giving him a present, or making his favorite meal? I hadn’t. This whole time I had taken him for granted, and now that he was truly gone, it felt like someone had torn a gaping hole into my heart, and there was nothing I could do to fill it.

So I sobbed until my tears ran dry and I no longer had the strength to scream, Iceblink’s wings wrapped around me the entire while as she stroked my head and I shook softly. My throat was scraped raw, and I couldn’t speak.

When I was caught somewhere between dreams and the waking world, my head throbbing from all my crying and exhaustion tugging at every scale, a voice whispered in my ear. It sounded so far away, and I could barely make out the words. I wasn’t sure if they were real. 

“How does it feel to lose everything? What is it like to belong to nothing?” the voice crooned. “I’ll shield you from the pain of such an unforgiving world. You won’t go anywhere if there’s nowhere for you to go. You won’t love anyone else when I love you the most.”

It had to be some kind of waking dream. Maybe I should have felt like it was a nightmare, but somehow, I felt safer, hearing those words. I fell asleep like that, tucked against Iceblink’s strong wings, letting her fill the emptiness in my heart where Citrine used to be.


	13. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.2

~Citrine~

The door grated open abruptly, like rough talons against stone, jolting me from my fitful sleep. My eyes opened, and I squinted against the sudden light where the cell door used to be. The perpetual darkness had made even the faintest of light appear blinding. A pale, wraith-like silhouette stepped into the cell, and the faint torchlight filtered around her figure, casting a dark, void-like shadow. There was only one dragon that the figure could be. 

Iceblink strode closer, her ice-blue eyes glittering colder than ever in the dim torchlight. I matched her gaze, tense and waiting for her to make a move, but her figure remained unmoving. The silence awaited like a snake, coiled and ready to lunge at the slightest sound. After a short eternity, I finally gave in.

“I won’t forgive you. I’ll never forget what you did to him.” I narrowed my eyes at her. Iceblink didn’t move, and I snarled at her, my face twisting with rage. “You’ll pay for my brother’s death with your _own.”_

Iceblink just smiled at me, her expression almost soft. Almost affectionate - but it was like the curved shape of her mouth had been painted on a porcelain doll. I smoothed my face to neutrality, returning to a blank stare, but it didn’t stop the chill down my spine and the fiery rage simmering in my stomach. Even if I had nothing left to lose, I’d never let go of the memory of what she’d done to Sunstone. Not as long as I was alive.

_I can’t save him..._  
_I couldn’t save him._  
_But I can give him what he deserves. I can give you what you deserve._

Iceblink finally shifted, leaning closer. Her night-black shadow loomed over me, and my heart began to race against my will. She curled her talons around my snout with one quick motion, forcefully bringing my startled gaze to hers, drawing blood where her talons dug into my scales. The sudden movement had torn at the slashes on my back, and they began to throb. I could feel my blood trickling down my face, small droplets staining my talons as they fell to the floor, bringing color to the gray stone.

_Don’t touch me._

I tried not to react, gritting my teeth and glaring into her eyes. A small frown replaced her painted smile, but it still felt fake. I still couldn’t tell what she was feeling, and it scared me. “That’s no way to talk to the dragon that saved you.” Iceblink’s voice was calm, but the words were frosty cold. “Of course you don’t understand now. You’re still nothing. Still nobody. But I’m giving you a chance to be more than just another useless life staining Pyrrhia’s soil. Your time here, in the Compound, will be for nothing unless you get up and do as I say.”

“I’ll _never-”_

“From this moment on, you are my trainee. You will climb the ranks with your peers, and when you graduate, you will ascend to something greater as dragonets of the Rift. You won’t make a difference alone, but with my guidance, you’ll at least be more than a simple space on a chessboard to be filled. You’ll be a pawn, and maybe more if you’re lucky. Mistakes will not be tolerated. Failures; even less. I’m gracious enough to give you this life; to see any kind of potential in your weak body. You will take what I give you and do as I say, or you’ll return to the Rift’s soil like the dirt you really are.” Iceblink’s faint smile had returned, but this time, it was stretched thin like a branch stripped of its leaves.

“You’ll still pay for what you did. I won’t be your plaything,” I vowed.

I still felt impossibly small under her gaze.

**. . .**

When Iceblink returned the next day, opening the cell door with an ominous scrape, I was instantly awake, but still exhausted. I’d spent the whole night obsessing over every little thing I could remember about Sunstone - but the details were already fading. Did his eyes sparkle when he laughed? Hadn’t that extra ruby scale been on his right ear, or had it been the left? I couldn’t remember.

But we had the same eyes.

There was a small pool of water in the corner, and whenever I looked to see my reflection, I felt like folding in on myself and disappearing forever. Those weren’t my amber irises anymore. They were just a reminder of how I’d failed to keep my promise. Sunstone should have been the one alive, not me.

Iceblink had taken it all away.

Every little moment we’d shared, the few times we’d been able to laugh together or smile at each other or go to sleep happy, that was all sand in the wind now. It all meant nothing without Sunstone beside me. I’d devoted my entire life to making his just a fraction better. What was I supposed to do without him? Who was I when he was gone? I was beginning to think life itself was nothing without Sunstone. But that was weak, and I wouldn’t give up. Wouldn’t that mean that Iceblink would win? That was the one thing I wouldn’t allow. I would be the one with the last laugh, not her.

Not that backstabbing monster.

Iceblink watched me from the cell door for a long moment before stepping in. As soon as she was in range, I lunged at her, blasting fire towards her face. I clawed at her neck, but a cold tail whipped across my snout and I roared, flinching back. Iceblink remained unscathed. Before I could pick myself up, she threw me into the side of the cell, and my back slammed against the wall. Pain clouded my vision with sparks of white as the gashes on my back began to seep blood. I didn’t understand how she wasn’t injured. I didn’t know where that invisible wall of strength was coming from.

“I was going to introduce you to the rest of the Compound today,” Iceblink said from the shadows, voice like silk, “but I don’t think you’ve acclimated to your surroundings adequately. Would you prefer to remain here for more conditioning? I have no use for pawns that switch their colors.”

“YOU CAN’T MAKE ME DO ANYTHING!” I roared, curling into a ball. “YOU KILLED SUNSTONE! _I’LL KILL YOU!”_

A chuckle wormed its way out between Iceblink’s lips, and the sound reminded me of broken bells. “You think that because you can barely hunt; that because you can just manage to chase down a deer and slit its throat, that you have any chance of beating a dragon decades older than you? For moons’ sakes, dear. You’re just a dragonet.” Iceblink finally let go of my snout, and the scales on my face stung. I could feel hot liquid filling the lines between my scales, filling my nostrils and staining my tongue. “Look at yourself. You’re choking on the blood that keeps you alive. You’re full of imperfections and emotions that get in the way, but I’ll sculpt your body into something stronger. I’ll carve those thoughts right out of your head. I’ll make you into something better; into something that matters, so just do as I say.”

“I won’t,” I coughed, spitting blood. “You can’t make me. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

Iceblink backed away until she was only an outline in the cell’s doorway. “Oh, Citrine. Even after all those years fighting alone in the Rift, you have much to learn. There is _always_ more to lose.”

The door slammed behind her, trapping me in the darkness.

**. . .**

The gashes on my back hadn’t healed. Instead, each day, they only hurt more and more. The pain had gone from slow and throbbing to whips of lightning that spread from my back to the tips of my talons every second. I was too weak to stand. 

But I couldn’t let Iceblink turn me into the dragon she wanted me to be. I couldn’t let her change me if I was going to avenge my brother. It would be what he wanted, right? It’d make him feel better, knowing that his murderer had gotten an eye for an eye. If Sunstone was out there beyond this life somewhere, he’d want me to do it, right? He wouldn’t want me to be broken by her.

I’d lost track of the days that had passed. I vowed to end this suffering one way or another. I’d be patient if I had to - at least I knew, one day, I would see Iceblink’s death. I let the fact be an anchor, tying me to the ground and keeping me afloat, but I still felt like I was drowning. I’d see the end of this, and I’d survive the Compound, and once it was all said and done, maybe I’d just drop off the face of the planet myself.

_I won’t let you change me._  
_I won’t let you break me._

But I was only Citrine. I was just my weak, worthless, promise-breaking self, and Iceblink was right. I was nobody, and I couldn’t win.

I couldn’t win, but I would get what I needed anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ^^


	14. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.3

~Sunstone~

_Five years later..._

_And a new day begins!_

I breathed deeply, sitting up on a pile of furs and staring up at the stone ceiling. After a few empty-headed blinks, I leapt up and began to make my way towards the balcony. Striding through the gauzy sheer curtains and the glass double doors, I breathed in the swift wind as it played over my face. I savored the cool rock beneath my talons as I set them upon the railing, and I looked up.

The sun had just barely made it over the easternmost peak of the Compound, and the ever-present clouds had finally traveled elsewhere. The ice pond far below seemed to almost glow pale blue and gold in the morning light, and my condensed breath sparkled in the crisp air. I realized that the lake was finally thawing - wonderful! Spring was coming around at last. The latest winter had been the longest and coldest in a while, but the weather was finally warming up.

_I wonder what I’ll do today._

Reading sounded appealing. Iceblink had recently gotten several new scrolls for me, and they were sitting in a leather bag by the library door. I couldn’t wait to get into them, especially since they were my favorite genre.

The fictional stories of heroes, danger, and happy endings always intrigued me the most. It was a fact that Iceblink occasionally teased me about, since she was always trying to nudge me to read more about politics, real dragons, and the real Pyrrhia we lived in, since I was supposed to be the Leader one day, according to her. But I’d decided that even an Heir to the Compound should be able to have fun, scrolls included or not.

I would have started looking for a story, but the sudden noise of footsteps sounded up ahead of me, throwing me from my search. I looked up from the pile to see Iceblink’s figure coming through the cypress door. She cast a warm smile towards me as she rested the familiar and aromatic wicker basket on the smooth granite table in the center of the room. 

I blinked at the table. “When did this get here?” The table hadn’t been there before - was it an upgrade? The one I’d had last was a plain wooden one, made from mahogany or something equally expensive.

Iceblink grinned, patting my head and dishing out breakfast. “Since you’re so studious, I figured I’d carve a table for your use, and for our meals too!” She set down a silver platter of sweet-smelling sliced strawberries in front of me and began to pour golden honey over them.

“Thank you so much! For the new table. And for the food too.” I said as I began to dig in, savoring the juicy sweetness slowly before swallowing. “Maybe I should make you something in return!”

After seeing Iceblink carve - it was a favorite hobby of hers - I’d wanted desperately to learn her passion. For the past few years, I had dedicated a small amount of time every day to carving. Most of the time, Iceblink would be there, watching and teaching me new skills. I hoped that one day I’d be as good as her. Iceblink’s creations were amazing.

I listened to Iceblink chewing her own meal for a long moment before she spoke. “Oh, darling. You know you don’t have to. Besides, my second-in-command Flurry has important lessons for you today. I really think you should spend more time under his instruction.”

I hid my wince. No matter how much Iceblink tried to glorify Flurry’s presence, I’d never be able to like him. Everything he tried to teach was boring and dry, and when he wasn’t teaching, he was always droning on about the end of the IceWings, tyrannical NightWings, and Pyrrhia’s downfall. “No, thanks,” I said. “I think I do perfectly fine without extra time.”

“Flurry’s been telling me that you’ve been falling behind in his math classes, though,” Iceblink insisted. “As well as history.”

That old pile of bones. Why’d he have to give my grades to Iceblink? All I wanted was to look good in her eyes - and to actually have some free time. “Oh, I’ll pick it up soon,” I promised. “I’m just going through a tough spot right now.” I was pretty sure I was always going through a tough spot with math and history, but who said Iceblink needed to know that?

“Well, alright, little master,” Iceblink joked. “There’s no time to waste while the sun is up. You should get to class.”

I hugged her before disappearing out the door. Spotting Pineapple dusting the rugs at the end of the hallway, I waited until the cypress door had fully closed before lifting a wing in greeting. She glanced up and smiled, a faint rose color blooming along her neck and tail as her scales shifted color.

Iceblink had been right all those years ago - Pineapple, my maid, did have a delicate personality. Her brows were always furrowed, and even the slightest things could scare her. Even Iceblink herself seemed to terrify Pineapple, and I could never figure out why. She always shut down when it came to the IceWing.

But even so, we’d become close friends after I’d approached her one morning after breakfast. It had only been to tell her how good the food was, even though she hadn’t cooked it, but Pineapple had smiled and that had been the end of it. We’d been pretty much inseparable ever since, when we could get away with it.

It was such a shame that the whole thing was kept a secret from Iceblink, though. I never did find out why, but Pineapple always insisted that I never tell Iceblink about our friendship. She’d had a hard time convincing me, but eventually I’d relented, even though I couldn’t understand how Iceblink would be mad if I made a friend.

It didn’t really matter, though. I’d see her again during lunch, which I always had alone. Maybe Pineapple would even stay to talk, although she might be busy with whatever chores Iceblink gave her. 

I turned away and walked in the opposite direction of Pineapple, heading towards Flurry’s rooms. First, I had to get lessons out of the way.

**. . .**

I opened the door, mood plummeting as Flurry’s frowning expression filled the entryway. His frown deepened into a scowl. “I trust that you’ve been working on your math project,” Flurry said disdainfully. Another reason why I hated his teaching - he always gave me work, but he always acted like it was pointless and boring and would never do anything for me, although he wouldn’t dare speak it.

If he hated the curriculum so much, why wouldn’t he just quit teaching me? I was sure we’d have a lot more fun if we weren’t spending time on maths and history and whatever else he gave me on any given day. But maybe he just hated me, and all the work was just so that he could revel in my pain.

The truth was that I had not been working on my project. But why would I tell him that? He didn’t have to know, and I could always wing whatever questions he asked. I glared at Flurry’s back as I followed him diligently.

His scales were completely unblemished until you saw his claws. Flurry’s talons on all four arms and legs had been worn away somehow to the point that they were nearly nonexistent, and several of his teeth were gone. Missing. I’d never learned what had happened, and they looked too ugly and gross for me to work up the courage to ask Flurry.

Flurry’s scales were plain and white, but his wings, spines, and horns were tinged with the slightest shade of cyan and periwinkle. His eyes were a violet-blue a few shades paler than Iceblink’s, and a million times more distant, as if he was watching something else, far away, and never really in the moment with anyone else. 

I put on my most genuinely fake smile, showing nearly all my teeth as I walked with him, heading through the Firn dormitory and then towards his sunlit study.

Flurry held the door open for me. “Come in. Wipe that jovial grin off your face while you’re at it too, won’t you? This is a serious learning environment.” My grin immediately collapsed into the deepest pout imaginable, and the IceWing’s frown dipped further, almost breaching the limits of what was possible for a dragon’s facial muscles. It brought a spark of joy to my morning.

Moving my face back to neutrality before he could say anything, I stood with my back to him. “How has your morning been, Flurry?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Mediocre, if I do say so myself. But I suppose our dear Leader Iceblink would rather I tell you that it was something wonderful.”

Another thing I hated about Flurry. He always seemed to have this undercurrent of hate towards Iceblink, especially when she wasn’t looking. I couldn’t understand it. Iceblink had to be one of the kindest dragons in the world - Flurry was probably just jealous, or wanted her position. Too bad _I_ was the Heir.

“Iceblink wouldn’t want you to say anything if that wasn’t how you felt,” I said loyally. “What do you have against her?!”

“Absolutely nothing,” the IceWing said, studying the ceiling. “Now, sit down. Today we’ll be doing something quite different - study of literature. You like scrolls, don’t you? Of course you do; you trust anything that isn’t numbers.”

I sat down at the single desk in the middle of the room - Flurry’s chambers had been split in half. One had been transformed into a miniature classroom, piled high with scrolls and maps of Pyrrhia and slates to write on. The other half was a smallish living space with a bed and chest of drawers. The room was still large enough to house multiple dragons, but nowhere near as large as my own. I almost felt sorry for him. He had to give up half of his personal space for a job he never wanted, and I proved that point every day.

I guess it was my own special revenge, after all, for all the pointless work he gave me.

“I asked you a question,” Flurry monotoned. “A question requires an answer.”

“You already answered it yourself. Also, not if it’s rhetorical.”

Flurry exhaled through his nose before slapping a scroll down on the desk. “The novel you’ll be reading for the next few weeks. Title: _Inferno: Kairos Rising_. Iceblink tells me you might actually enjoy it. Now, I want you to read the first five chapters and characterize our protagonist. Analyze him down to the bones; to the very words of his existence. What is his personality? What are his motivations? What makes him that way? These questions are oddly not rhetorical, so I do happen to require a well-thought-out answer, Heir.”

I sighed and dragged the scroll towards me.


	15. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.4

~Citrine~

The assembly hall was a vast, empty cavern on the lowest level of the Compound that was directly open to the ice lake. Torches flickered as they attempted to light up the area, and even though the ceiling was so high it melted into the mountain’s shadow, I was still burdened with the phantom feeling of a thousand boulders crushing down on my shoulders.

Directly in front of the ice lake, an outcropping of dark stone provided a makeshift stage for the regal IceWing dragoness perched atop. Her name was Aurora, and pale blues and purples hinted at her wings and spines. Her eyes were the only thing that didn’t reflect her name, and they were a dark and shadowed shade of indigo, always distant and never very sharp. She was also extremely old, possibly the most ancient dragon in the entire Rift.

She would have been nearly staggeringly gorgeous if it had not been for her scars. Her snout was wrapped in them, the pale slivers of raised pink flesh like chains. From there, they stretched down her neck and over her back, roping into the inside edges of her wings. It was a wonder she could still fly, and when she did, which wasn’t very often, she often lagged behind the rest of the dragons flying with her.

Many of the trainees quipped about how’d she die from tripping over her own tail one day from being so ridiculously old, but no dragon would ever dare to make fun of her to her face. Under the shrunken scales and wrinkled skin, there was a shocking amount of strength and stamina. She was slow, but she was still strong enough to beat almost every trainee into a pulp.

Aurora was also the Trainee Overseer, holding one of the most prestigious positions in the Compound. She was the only dragon other than her brother, the second-in-command Flurry, that had a say in Leader Iceblink’s decisions. Even the Graduate Overseer, North, had less power than her, and he was in charge of every dragon that had finally ascended beyond a trainee position and obtained an assignment. Despite her age, the trainees that had been around the longest had seen her in action, and she was not a dragon to be trifled with. Yet out of the four, she was the kindest, and her warm disposition somehow meshed seamlessly with the dangerous role she took part in. 

In five years, this was the third time I had seen Aurora in an assembly like this. The next time would be the last, and I was already counting down the days until that day. I’d been counting down the days since I’d become a trainee. I was ten now, and hopefully I’d be done with this place by twelve.

I sat near the front of forty or so other congregated dragons, near the podium. My barbed tail flicked in the direction of the thawing lake, and my gaze swept over the mass of wings and tails. They came from all sorts of tribes and backgrounds, and all had different abilities, but all of them were trainees within the Compound’s ranks.

Most of the dragons were years younger than me, but we were all equally solemn. The only ones who appeared confused were the littlest, from Aufeis, but they’d learn soon enough.

Whatever confusion there was began to dissipate as the Trainee Master began to call names off of a list. “Flicker! You’ve been promoted to Sastrugi. Collect your schedule.” A tiny orange SkyWing scrambled for the podium and rushed away. “Willow! Your rank is constant. Collect your schedule.” The MudWing grabbed the small scroll and scrambled after the SkyWing.

There were three ranks, and each one was another step towards graduation and obtaining an assignment. Aufeis was for the littlest dragonets that had just been recruited, where the Compound’s rules and basic combat was taught to every trainee. Sastrugi was where trainee life got intense, and curriculum became focused on physical exams and rigorous training. It was where you learned to kill, and where you cut out your weaknesses and buried them. Cornice was the highest rank a trainee could have before graduating, and every class was advanced enough that the stragglers would quickly be sorted into the bottom of the pack. Every eye was watching you, and Leader Iceblink’s inspection was especially thorough.

A dragon’s rank was based on their skill, and if they didn’t work hard enough at improving, didn’t pay attention in class, or never did extra time in the training room, then they either stayed in their current rank or fell a rank. It all depended on a dragon’s score at the end of those two-and-a-half years. Even the assignments dragons earned when they graduated were based on their class rank in Cornice, with higher-ranked students getting more preferable positions than those that didn’t work hard.

The longer you spent in the lower ranks and levels, the harder it got to reach the top. The teachers would treat you harsher and Training Overseer Caribou would beat you harder. Sometimes the failures would give up and try to fly away, and in the end either the patrols and scouts or the Obsidian Cliff or the brutal cold of the northern Ice Kingdom would later claim their lives. Or other times, if you stayed long enough and failed even longer, you were deemed a useless amalgamation of meat or a waste of space and executed publicly, where everyone could learn a lesson from your shame. It had happened before, multiple times, and it would undoubtedly happen again.

You could get killed for a lot of things in the Compound.

Aurora yelled my own name out into the crowd, and I moved from my perch towards the podium. The dragons I passed ignored me, too absorbed in their own scores and schedules to pay attention. I was one of the best-performing dragons in my class, but they didn’t pay me much mind. I stayed out of the vague social hierarchy in place, and it was enough to make them overlook me. I stayed quiet, and I stayed invisible.

I nearly didn’t exist in this place, and that was okay.

I walked up to Aurora, her eyes darkening a bit as she turned to face me. I kept my face unreadable, waiting. She smiled, handing me a thin scroll and whispering, “Welcome to Cornice.”

I took the scroll and turned away, squashing the betraying hint of pride in my chest and flying out across the thawing ice lake towards the dorms on the other side.

_This isn’t an accomplishment._  
_I won’t be who she wants me to be._

From a single glance at my schedule, I could already see that there wouldn’t be any time available to escape the routine of the Compound until after dark. After curfew. Even if it wasn’t allowed, I could always sneak around the night watch. Enough daring trainees had tried to get past and failed enough that I was sure of where every single guard was posted in the night.

I entered Aufeis’s common rooms, unseen by the newest trainees milling around the couches like they had no idea what to do. They were only dragonets - scrawny and brittle from life on the Rift, a few not even older than two. Their eyes darted towards every dark corner, and they stared at each other like they expected their peers to help them out somehow, even though there was nothing they could do. I’d been like them once, lost and broken and scared.

I would not be like that again.

Ever.

There was a spiraling stairwell leading towards the sky at the far wall of Aufeis’s commons. I climbed the towering flights of stairs, passing the Aufeis dorms at ground level quickly and leaping off at Sastrugi, the next level up. There were some things I needed from my dorm. 

I strode towards Sastrugi-3, my old room, and opened the door to meet the surprised gaze of a female SandWing. Her ribs jutted from her flanks, like she’d starved herself in an attempt to look like she had any muscle, and her wings were slightly tattered at the edges. She looked about three years younger than me, but her eyes still glittered with the same adult bitterness as most of the trainees.

“Get _out!_ This isn’t your dorm!” she hissed.

“Well, it was,” I said, voice hard, eyeing the way she moved in front of my things. Trying to keep me from them. “Haul your scales out of here. I’m getting my stuff.”

The pale yellow SandWing snarled at me, venomous tail twitching dangerously. She glanced once at the satchel behind her. My satchel behind her. “Like the moons I will. Finders keepers, losers can go eat my tail. You think you can waltz in my room like you own the place? No, you can’t. _Get out.”_

Every trainee was given one satchel to carry their items around the Compound for classes and recreation. The items included a few thin scrolls for notes, a folder for classwork, and whatever permitted weapons you had chosen. The weapons could range anywhere from a bottle of RainWing or SandWing venom to a crossbow. Aufeis trainees could carry three weapons of their choice, Sastrugi four, and Cornice five. Graduates with assignments from Iceblink that had assumed other positions could carry six, and nobody knew how many the aristocratic Firn residents could carry, or if they carried any at all in their chambers above and across from the other dorms.

I had three different knives and a vial of SandWing poison. The daggers had been the most useful when I’d been in Aufeis, but when I’d graduated to Sastrugi, the first thing I did was grab the small bottle of SandWing poison. I’d never needed to use it, but I liked knowing that it was there, especially since my own tail barb couldn’t provide the substance.

And all of it was in my bag, which the SandWing wasn’t going to let me have anytime soon. At least not without force, clearly - but it was a terrible idea to start a fight on the first day of my promoted rank. I glowered at her and growled, twitching my tail in response. “Maybe this is your room now, but that doesn’t change that that’s still my stuff. I’m here to retrieve it, so don’t make me force you to leave the room.”

I wasn’t stupid enough to start an actual fight with her, especially now - it would attract too much attention, and I didn’t know which dragons she hung out with or if they’d come for me next. But her self-centered disposition was wearing my nerves thin, and all of the built-up tension and nervousness in my body from promotion and final exams under Iceblink’s eye was starting to turn volatile.

She snarled again, even more enraged, and her obsidian eyes flickered with dark rage. “Oh, yeah?! You think you’re all that? You’re nothing, _hybrid._ Nothing, and you’re probably going to graduate with an assignment so far out in the Rift that our Leader’s going to forget you even exist. Do you know who I am? Jackal’s sister, Hyena. He’s been in Cornice way longer than you, and he’s going to put a little hybrid wimp like you to shame, and so will I! So get out of my room before I hurt you!”

“Jackal’s only still in Cornice because he keeps failing his finals, and that’s not the most attractive outlook for his assignment. For such an advanced trainee’s little sister, you sure don’t know when to shut up, and that’s a woefully underrated skill in this place,” I snapped, my exasperation reaching its peak.

The smaller SandWing’s frill bristled, and she roared, leaping at me and pinning me to the ground behind me. Her claws arced in the corner of my vision, and I barely managed to dodge a slash to the eyes. A sturdy punch to the throat made me cough, and I gasped for breath.

_You think I’m just going to lie here and take your crap?_  
_Three moons, you’d better think again._

Red flashed in my vision. Grabbing her shoulders, I dug my talons into her diamond-shaped scales and flipped her into the stone floor of the dorm. She grunted in surprise, snapping at my neck. I saw her tail arch above me out of the corner of my eye, and I deflected it with my bunched-up wings before dodging her teeth, clawing at her face. She lunged at me from below, and I unleashed a blast of flame without thinking. The orange-gold flickers spewed from my mouth towards her wings. A little burn wouldn’t incapacitate her, and I just needed her out of the way.

Hyena lurched away from my talons, and they whistled through empty air. The blast of fire I’d forced out hit her full-on in the face, and her screams echoed through her dorm. The SandWing stumbled back, flames still dancing on her snout and eyes, and she began to claw at her face, desperately trying to roll away. Blood and tears pooled from her head to the ground, and her flesh began to blacken as the flames died.

_Oh no. What did I just do?_  
_This wasn’t what I wanted at all._

She screeched, writhing in agony beneath my talons. I stared down at her, watching her clutch her burned face, a little numb from shock. Eventually I steeled myself, trying to prepare for the onslaught of rumors I’d face once I left the room. “I’ll take my stuff back now. Thanks for the cooperation.”

_This was a terrible mistake._  
_What was I thinking? I should’ve just ran when she attacked._

I let go of her shoulders, my talons catching in the ridges of her diamond-shaped scales as I accidentally ripped two of them out of place. She roared and shrieked behind me, barbed tail lashing wildly as I stepped over her towards my satchel.

“I can’t see! I _can’t see!_ It hurts! You’re going to be punished for what you did to me! Jackal is going to tear you apart, and so will Leader Iceblink!” Her roars of frustration echoed in my ears, muffled by her talons still pressed against her face. I stared back, numb, watching her thrash around on the ground. “You broke the rules!”

For the most part, Leader Iceblink’s trainees were free to do what they wanted as long as they were on schedule and respectful to the dragons ranked higher than them. But Iceblink had five rules in place that applied to every trainee and graduate in the Rift - rules that no dragon, no matter how stupid, would ever intentionally break, because doing so meant certain death. They were called the Sacred Five, and breaking them always resulted in a public execution.

_One: Lies and deceit will not be tolerated in any way, shape, or form._  
_Two: Absence from the Compound or Rift for both trainees and graduates is not allowed without Leader Iceblink’s special permission._  
_Three: Romantic relationships between trainees are forbidden. Partnerships may only be created with Leader Iceblink’s consent after graduation._  
_Four: The release of confidential information and spreading of propaganda detrimental to the Compound’s cause is not permitted._

And…

_Five: Murder, attempted murder, and intent to kill or harm towards any Overseer will be punishable by death._

When the time came, I would only have one chance. That time was coming soon, too. If I failed, everything would be lost. All the years spent working to rise in the ranks while still flying under the radar, all the time spent planning and obsessing and honing my abilities into something I could use against her… It would be for nothing, and Sunstone’s death would never be avenged. But I wouldn’t fail. Iceblink would die, sooner or later, and then I’d leave in peace. I didn’t need recognition or thanks. All I needed was her dead, and then I could finally disappear the way I always wanted to.

Nothing in the rules said anything against the murder or mutilation of a fellow trainee, though. I hadn’t meant for things to get this far, but I knew that no one would punish me. The few dragons that noticed what happened might watch me warily for a few days, but then it would all be forgotten - by them, at least. I just hoped that Iceblink would pay me the same amount of mind.

The only dragon I might have to be careful of would be the Jackal that Hyena spoke of - he sounded familiar. A Cornice trainee who’d ascended several years before now, and definitely more experienced in his ways than I was. Older and stronger, too, but I’d catch up. He couldn’t be that threatening if he’d failed his finals for the past four years.

I would fend him off, and Hyena could rot in the lake.

“I didn’t break the rules, and you know it. I’ll get away with this - and you can’t do anything about it. You’ll be lucky if Leader Iceblink decides it’s worth having a blind trainee stick around.” The words were harsh, but my rage was still threatening to spill over, despite my shock.

She curled into a ball, a keening wail escaping from her, and I saw tears spilling over her burned face.

_Not quite as strong as she thinks, is she. She’s probably trying so hard, and I’ve just ruined it all for her._  
_The color of her scales kind of reminds me of Sun-_  
_Don’t think. Don’t feel. Don’t forget._  
_Stay invisible. I only have one goal._

I grabbed the cloth sack with my scrolls, notes, and weapons inside, slinging it over my shoulder and walking out of the dorm. Slamming the door behind me, I didn’t pause to study the horrified eyes of dragons around me. They must have smelled the burning flesh, or heard the screams from Hyena, but I shut them out. I didn’t care. Couldn’t let myself.

From there, I climbed the stairwell up to Cornice and strode past the common rooms towards the dorms. One side of the hallway was filled with somewhat more fashionably carved doors, where the few graduates that stayed in the Compound lived. The other side of the hall was lined with plain doors like the rest of the ranks, and I began to search for my dorm.

_Cornice-5._

I found the neatly labeled door and stepped inside, closing it tightly and locking it. Unlike the SandWing, I didn’t want any surprise visitors. Gazing at the sparsely decorated room, I marveled at how similar it was to my old Aufeis and Sastrugi dorms. Same gray stone, same gray stone table, same cold gray ledge of stone with a gray pelt of fur draped over it for sleeping. The only thing that was different, that indicated that I was any better than Aufeis or Sastrugi-ranking dragons was a rounded hole in the wall that served as a window with a view of the Compound.

It was too small for a dragon to fit through, but large enough to allow for a good amount of ventilation. But that wasn’t something that was needed in the Ice Kingdom. If anything, it would just make the winter nights unbearably cold.

Overall, the dorms of the Compound were devoid of any color that was visibly different from the gray stone around us. Sometimes, it felt calm, like it all blended together. Sometimes it felt cold and bleak, gray like the skies so often were over this place. But it was always the same oppressive color, and I always felt claustrophobic inside the mountain. Even on the shores of the lake, where the sky was open above me, I’d never been able to shake the feeling of imaginary claws around my throat.

But spring was coming, and so was the sun. I was in Cornice now - one step closer to finishing what had been started those five years ago. Maybe I wouldn’t even need to wait until graduation to get this over with. Maybe I’d be able to take down Iceblink by the end of the year, if nothing got in the way. I’d finally make Sunstone happy, because the moons knew I did a terrible job of everything before I’d lost him.

And afterwards...

I studied the thawing lake out the window. It reflected the sky like a mirror, empty and blue, ever changing with the clouds even as the mountain I stood on stayed constant. Maybe I’d fly somewhere, far away, where winter couldn’t touch me and I could finally forget. Or maybe I’d fly north until I couldn’t feel my scales, or just find the tallest cliff in the Rift. Maybe I’d even take a trip to the ocean to see the seafloor. It just couldn’t be the Compound. I couldn’t stay in this place.

I set my satchel on the ground next to the table, and rooted through it for the scrolls I’d last been studying in class. Finding them at last, I yanked them out and put them in a pile on the gray table, painstakingly trying to read through the jumble of letters in front of me, wondering when I could visit the armory for my new permitted weapon.

I’d made mistakes before, but now I couldn’t allow them. What had happened to Hyena today would only draw attention from the Overseers and Iceblink that I didn’t need. After all, classes started tomorrow. Being in Cornice…

There would no longer be any room for error.


	16. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.5

~Sunstone~

I hunched over the open scroll on mathematics, trying to decipher the page on trig ratios and theorems. My already lacking patience was evaporating at an astonishing speed, and I flipped through the rest of the scroll out of boredom and frustration. How was I ever going to finish my project? It was due tomorrow. Formulas and graphs began to swim in front of my eyes, and my gaze rested on the logarithm base conversion formula, stark against the scroll’s paper.

_Um._  
_Ew._

I closed the scroll abruptly and threw it across the room, reveling in its satisfying smack against the marble wall. Then I wondered how much Flurry would chew me out over a broken scroll, and immediately ran over to check its condition. To my relief, the ends hadn’t chipped and the roll was still intact, although it looked a little scuffed. Hopefully, my teacher wouldn’t notice, but knowing Flurry, he definitely would. 

With a disgusted grunt, I shoved the scroll with even less care under a pile of other extremely scholarly and boring scrolls that Flurry had instructed me to read. Like I would ever even bother to try and look at them again. Some dragons had very poor taste in scrolls. My teacher Flurry was one of them, and he was utterly shameless about it. In fact, he nearly flaunted it, and it was one of the few things in life that made me genuinely sad.

I gazed out the open glass double doors at the glowing sunset. Shades of red, orange, pink, and yellow blended together like oil paint and shed their fading colors onto the ridges of the Compound mountain, and the air smelled sweeter than usual. Spring was coming in fast, and the trees beyond the Compound were already budded, some of them covered in fresh green leaves. Wildflowers covered the mountainsides, smearing a rainbow over the usually plain grey-green slopes.

I would have loved to see them up close, but Iceblink wouldn’t approve. I couldn’t bring myself to disobey her and check out the scenery myself, even though my curiosity was so great. Once, since she’d only told me not to go to the bottom levels of the Compound, I’d asked her if I could wander outside, in the green. Iceblink had gently let me down, and I’d had to hide how crushed I felt.

No matter how much I tried to convince myself that living inside of the mountain was all fine and dandy, surrounded by luxury, I’d always miss the freedom of being able to fly wherever I wanted. The way I’d done before, with Citrine…

_I miss him. I really do._  
_I thought living without him would get easier, but it’s not. It’s only gotten easier to pretend none of it ever happened, but remembering anything hurts so bad. But I don’t want to forget. I want to remember the things he gave me._  
_Stop it, me. I can’t be sentimental now; I’m supposed to be the Compound’s next Leader in a few years. My past is irrelevant to the future._  
_When will Iceblink get here?_

Growing tired of waiting, I went into the small supply cabinet and retrieved our materials, bringing them to the sleek table and arranging them for my use. During my free time, Iceblink would usually be present in the room to watch over me, but lately, she’d grown busy. Now, it wasn’t unusual that I was alone. I tried to tell myself to appreciate my new privacy, but I craved her presence anyway.

After another moment of Iceblink’s absence, I turned towards a dusty satchel and rooted through it until I found a medium-sized rock I liked. It was a beautiful alabaster stone, so white it nearly glowed, and I held the blank stone canvas in my hands gingerly. In the last five years I’d spent here in Firn, I’d improved a lot in the art. As beautiful as the rock already was, I’d be able to shape it into something even more beautiful. Well, hopefully, if I didn’t mess it up.

I had seen the sleek, muscular animals drawn in several scrolls about the tundra and the Ice Kingdom, and had been itching to carve one ever since I laid my eyes upon it. A wolf. Free and wild and unhindered by the world’s problems. Not a creature who’d eventually have to spend its life making decisions that would define the lives of its people.

I mean, being Leader had to be nice - I’d be able to have whatever I wanted and get away with telling Flurry off for being an uninteresting lump, but that much responsibility couldn’t be good for anyone. I had so much freedom living here in Firn, but I already felt constricted. Life as a Leader had to be completely suffocating.

The wolf was nearly halfway finished before Iceblink came in, and I had just started on the details of its feet when I realized she had been standing and watching me carve. “Oh! How long have you been there?” I shifted in my seat, embarrassed to have been caught so easily. Iceblink smiled and leaned in to inspect my statue.

“Only a few minutes,” she replied. “I’m sorry I’m so late; there was a little spat with a SandWing earlier. She started a fight, and it took a while to subdue her and get her to the infirmary.”

I nodded absentmindedly, returning to the wolf and finishing off the front paws. A fight downstairs. Not terribly unusual - from past and recent conversations, it sounded like my future subjects were still not ready to meet me.

Like always. I wished they’d stop being immature and getting into fights and stuff so I could actually say hello to them.

When would that day be? Iceblink always insisted that they were unprepared and still needed the physical and emotional help to be the best dragons possible, but I wasn’t sure if I believed her. Once they knew I only wanted to help them, wouldn’t they like me then? It wasn’t like I needed all of them to like me, either. But wasn’t I charismatic enough that at least some of them would? I’d be their Leader anyway.

_I just want to meet someone new. Nothing up here is ever new, and it...it gets lonely._

But Iceblink had to know best. She’d been like a mother to me all these years. Even if I didn’t call her one, and she didn’t call me her son, it was still the relationship we had. I couldn’t think of her as anything else. She’d brought me back from those days when I still spent hours mourning over my brother. She nurtured me and gave me a safe place to grow, and the only reason I was thriving and living my best life was because of what Iceblink had done for me.

_I’m nothing without her._

Sometimes I wondered if Citrine had felt the same with me. He’d been tough, but he’d had it tough too. I knew without a doubt that he’d loved me. I knew I’d felt the same about him as well - it had taken me a long time to get over what had happened. I wasn’t even sure that I was actually over it anyway, even so many years later. Maybe that was why Iceblink was so protective of me - maybe I was still a fragile dragonet to her that might break at one wrong touch.

_I never even saw him die. Why does it have to affect me so much?_

Hearing rustling behind me, I turned to see Iceblink leaving. “Where are you going?” I blurted, hating how plainative I sounded. “You just got here.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, hugging me momentarily. “But I’ll be very busy for the next few days. I promise, that we’ll do something fun tomorrow or later this week. Why don’t you work on your math project from Flurry for now? Or read that scroll he gave you?”

“He wouldn’t let me keep the scroll. And yeah, I guess I can finish my math project. But...” I couldn’t resist. “Do you have a particular day in mind when I can go downstairs? I really want to meet everyone else, and soon…”

“Oh, my little Heir,” Iceblink sighed. “So much responsibility for such a young dragon. That day will come, Sunstone. I promise.”

**. . .**

I was lying on my bed in the dark, nearly asleep, when a quiet knock sounded at the entrance door and my eyes flew open. Wasn’t it nearly midnight? Who could be walking about the Compound at this time of day? Everyone in Firn slept early except for Iceblink, and she never interrupted my sleep.

Irrational thoughts and fears of trainees from below come to assassinate me swirled in my mind, and I tried to calm myself, knowing the thudding in my chest was just foolish nerves. I always told myself I had nothing to fear from them, but from Iceblink’s depictions...they were still a little scary. I slipped off the bed and opened the door, making sure it didn’t creak, and blinked in surprise at the visitor.

“Pineapple!” I exclaimed before inwardly cringing, realizing how loud I sounded.

The RainWing’s scales flooded lime green before reverting to their shadowy, half-camouflaged colors. She glanced down the halls, making sure no one heard my exclamation before smiling at me shyly.

“Hey, Sunstone. I didn’t see you at all today…” Pineapple glanced around again. “Can I come in? I’m sorry for the late visit. I just didn’t want Leader Iceblink to catch me, and I was busy attending other dragons today...”

“She wouldn’t do anything to you,” I insisted, letting her in anyway. Closing my door behind us, I turned to look at Pineapple. “So what’s up? This is unusual, even for you.”

Pineapple’s scales had shifted into a pale blue shade, faint rosy blossoms swirling along her scales as she saw that I was watching. She stood alone in the center of my rooms, looking lost without some sort of task to do as a maid. Touching her lace choker gently, Pineapple gazed up at me. “I’m sorry,” she said shamefully. “I really didn’t think this through - I just wanted to see you, is all.”

“Me? That’s funny.” I laughed, but I realized she was dead serious as I watched her expression. A tiny prickle of embarrassment twinged in the back of my mind. Breathing a plume of fire onto a candle, I watched as the flame danced, casting larger-than-life shadows of us on my walls. “I...thought you’d have other friends from below, who’d be able to talk with you at midnight.” I sounded so jealous. I really wanted to take it back - despite our friendship, I knew almost nothing about Pineapple’s life other than that she served as my maid.

“Well. I guess Yucca would always be there for me, and maybe some of the other maids, but sometimes you’re just better company,” mumbled Pineapple. Her yellow eyes darted towards the candlelight before meeting my eyes again, somehow more intense than I’d ever seen them, and I hesitated as I began to wonder what she would say next. “But that’s not the reason I came here tonight. Sunstone, I...I-”

“What are the trainees below like?” I interrupted. It was a question where I genuinely wanted to know the answer. Besides, I really, really felt like I needed to change the subject for some reason.

Pineapple looked almost terrified before her expression sunk into something more hurt than fearful. “But...Sunstone, you know I can’t answer that question. I’m not allowed-”

“Just tell me. I really want to know. What are they like?”

“Can’t we talk about this later?”

I shivered. Pineapple was trapped between me and the door - but she’d still chosen to stay. Wasn’t it the least I could do to listen? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t interrupt. What did you want to tell me?”

Pineapple took in a breath, and I saw faint streaks of lime between all the sky blue and flowery pink on her scales. “Maybe I’m just foolish, and everything will fall apart if I say this, but Sunstone, I think…”

Silence stretched into eternity.

“...I think I like you.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I totally get that,” I said immediately. “I really like me too. I mean, wait, you’re a great friend to have too! I like you as well.”

Pineapple’s scales flooded dark rosy pink, and her face looked like it was caught between a joking smile and horrified embarrassment. “You’re right, but… Not like that, Sunstone. You know. The other way.”

I froze, unable to find the words I needed. There had to be something I could say, something I could do to let her down slowly. I didn’t know anyone besides the few faces I saw in the Rift. Pineapple was the only dragon I knew that was my age. I just...liked her as a friend. That’s all I wanted. I wasn’t ready for anything more. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever be able to feel something for her like that. I wasn’t sure if I could feel like that towards anyone…

Well, I probably could. In the scrolls I’d read, the fantasy ones with heroes and swords and magic, there’d been dragons I’d let myself crush on secretly. And as I got older and found the more mature stuff towards the back of the library, I was starting to figure things out. Starting to realize that maybe I wasn’t normal, that maybe I wouldn’t ever see anyone like Pineapple like that. But I wasn’t ready to deal with it.

Pineapple was still speaking, wearing a shy smile. I liked the sound of her voice most of the time - it was sweet and also airy - but I really wanted her to be quiet right now. She went on anyway. “Sunstone...we’re not dragonets anymore. I guess I’ll just tell you like an actual adult. I’m attracted to you. Romantically. I just… I like the way you treat me. I like your sense of humor. I like the way you nerd out over scrolls you enjoy, and it’s really cute how you try to make me eat some of the food and desserts I deliver, even though I’m not supposed to touch it. I think you’re really cute too. Honestly, everything about you, Sunstone, I…”

“I’m really sorry,” I choked out. Realization bloomed over Pineapple’s face, and the pale green hiding beneath all the other colors burst through. “I really am sorry. I don’t feel the same way. Pineapple, I-”

“It’s okay,” she said, and with a start, I realized that there were tears in her eyes. I instantly felt horrible. I should have been nicer; should have let her finish what she was saying, at the very least. “Really, Sunstone. It’s okay. Don’t be sorry… I should be sorry. I am. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s really late too, I’m probably just bothering you. I’ll just… I’ll go now.”

“No, wait, Pineapple. _Pineapple!_ We should talk, I…” I trailed off. Why couldn’t I find the words for this?! I’d never imagined being in this situation. Why didn’t I see this coming? Why didn’t I realize how she felt sooner? “We’re still friends, right? Please. I really like being friends with you-”

Pineapple bowed her head, and I realized how frayed her lace choker was. She was always tugging at it when she got nervous. How much courage had it taken for her to say those words? My pride curdled in my chest, and guilt seemed to sour the words I’d spoken.

“I’m really sorry,” Pineapple whispered, blinking back her tears, but they fell to the floor anyway. “We’ll… We can talk later. I won’t bother you anymore.”

Then she was gone.


	17. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve made some changes to formatting by centering the POV thingy and also the dinkuses for the entire work. Hopefully things look a little nicer now :)

~Citrine~

I’d gotten up extra early in the morning to visit the armory and choose my new weapon before anyone else arrived. Whoever got there early enough got the best choice of weapons, like the rarely-available fancy RainWing blow guns and venom darts, or the extensive cases of throwing stars and knives. I’d chosen a wickedly gleaming iron dagger with a black leather handle and stone hilt with a blade about the length of my forearm. Since it was too long to fit in my satchel, I’d left it in my dorm against the wall in case I ever wanted it.

I’d left for breakfast soon after, somehow managing to be one of the first trainees in line to get a platter of food that was still warm from the kitchens. Usually, I wasn’t one to beat the rush, and the mess hall was quieter than I was used to. The almost-silence felt foggy in my ears, and an invisible sense of oppression pressed around my head, heavy but also weightless. I quickly ate my share of smoked venison in the darkest corner of the hall, eager to leave for my first class. All the other trainees mingled in the dawn light and flickering torches, and the bubbling chatter of voices filled my ears.

Watching them, I marveled at how they all sat apart, yet together. The Aufeis trainees were all clumped together in a giant huddle, and the Sastrugi ones had broken up into groups of two or three. Cornice trainees were scattered between them all, sometimes paired into small groups. Sometimes I itched to go talk to them; starved to have someone who would listen, but I couldn’t bring myself to. I was too scared to drag anyone into my mess, and I was too afraid to let them figure out how corroded I felt on the inside.

_Rotten. Worthless._  
_No one wants to talk to you anyway. You don’t deserve it._

Glacial blue scales caught my eye, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking over at Puffin. He was one of the few dragonets of the IceWing founders, and his father was North, the Graduate Overseer. Combined with his natural skill for combat and efficiency inside and outside the classroom, he’d quickly become a favorite of the teachers, and Iceblink had had her eye on him ever since. Puffin would’ve been in Cornice by now if it hadn’t been for what had happened a few years ago, but there were rumors that Iceblink would promote him early from Sastrugi this year.

He was surrounded by his friends, talking and laughing and dodging balled-up napkins they tossed at his face while he joked about something. Shoving at Puffin’s shoulder was a smirking red SkyWing dragoness, and three other IceWings sat across from him. At the foot of the table was a huge SandWing who only seemed to be half paying attention to the group, a dark expression on his features. 

I’d been so sure I’d stopped feeling jealous, but I guess I hadn’t gotten rid of my feelings completely. It didn’t matter anymore, anyway; we didn’t talk like we used to. Not after what had happened. I didn’t miss him, and he didn’t either, clearly.

Puffin was charismatic enough to build up a better reputation for himself and find better friends without me. All the dragons in his group were strong and muscular, fast and fierce. Not a single Aufeis trainee in it to be found. Dragons gravitated towards him like they gravitated towards Iceblink, except that they wanted to feel close to him out of respect instead of fear. 

Not that it mattered what they thought of him. Now, was just Iceblink’s lapdog and personal pet to spy on the trainees and make sure nobody was breaking the Sacred Five. Maybe things had been different before, when we’d still been friends, but it had probably been inevitable how he’d left. How Iceblink took him away, like she did anything else.

With a start, I spotted two of the female IceWings from Puffin’s gathering making their way towards me. They had graduated to the Cornice ranking alongside me, and while I had seen them before, I could never recall their names.

They must’ve seen me staring. I knew enough about the pair to know they were deeply suspicious of anyone who let their eyes linger on Puffin for more than a heartbeat if they weren’t already in his established clique. Puffin might have been Iceblink’s dog, but these two dragonesses were definitely his.

The pair stalked closer, and from the similarities in their scales and faces, I guessed that they were twins, or at least sisters. Both had sour expressions, and the coloring of their scales was...odd for IceWings, although they clearly weren’t hybrids. The scales lining the back of one dragoness was a dark, bruised purple, and the bruised color leaked into the blue of her horns and talons. For the other, her horns and talons were that same bruised purple, and the blue of the scales lining her back seemed slightly bruised and mashed as well. The rest of their scales were a dull, bony white, making them look perpetually unhealthy and skeletal.

The one with the faded violet scales lining her back approached first, attempting to try on a neutral face and immediately deciding she wasn’t fond of it. She sauntered up to me, wings knocking against my own, and suspicion immediately crowded my thoughts.

“I’m Pneumonia,” she whispered, body language suggesting friendliness but voice laced with malice. “And that’s my dear twin, Pneumococcal.” I averted my gaze, wrinkling my snout as I turned back to my meal, hoping they’d just give up early. The attention was making my scales crawl, and the way the two of them were looking at me almost made me nauseous. To my increasing frustration, Pneumonia and her accomplice didn’t move an inch.

I growled slightly, standing and moving several feet away from their prying eyes as I dumped my tray, but Pneumonia followed, wearing a smile that didn’t match the look in her eyes. Or was she cringing? I couldn’t tell. I just wanted them to leave.

The dragoness spoke again. “You know I’m here to represent Puffin and his wishes. For your personal information, he’s made it clear what kind of dragon you are, and we’re not going to tolerate it if you so much as _breathe_ at him the wrong way, you disgusting weirdo.” I scooted a little farther away. Pneumonia hissed at me. “You’re a heartless coward, and you left our friend all alone when he needed someone the most. So stay away from us.”

Pneumococcal narrowed her eyes at me before heading towards Puffin’s gathering as a gong rang to signal the start of the next class. Pneumonia didn’t spare me a glance as she followed her sister.

****

**. . .**

I finally made my way to the northernmost training rooms, waiting for the rest of my fellow Cornice pupils to file in for class. The Training Overseer, Caribou, stood at the front of the classroom, impatiently waiting for the rest of the class to make their way inside.

He was a middle-aged IceWing with several broken horns and spines, and his wings were mangled by scars and tears to the point where it was a shock to see him fly - and faster than Aurora, too. Most of the scars looked like they’d been earned in battle, but several of the larger ones were clearly from frostbite. It was widely accepted among the trainees that they were all self-inflicted as a result of the Plague of Ice, but no one spoke a word about it.

Caribou’s demeanor was even worse than his appearance, and the IceWing was ridiculously unpredictable. One second he would squeeze your shoulder gently, nodding in appreciation, and the next he would slam you into the training room walls screaming about your shortcomings.

He had once been the IceWing tribe’s most prestigious general, but now, being reduced to a Training Overseer, he was sour with the little acknowledgement that was doled out to him. So he took it out on the trainees, and always got away with it because he was still important in Leader Iceblink’s eyes. Or maybe it was that she just utterly didn’t care about our wellbeing, which was almost more likely.

Everyone was scared of him to some extent, but I still had a little respect for him. There was something in the way that the IceWing held himself, so unafraid and full of raging fury while staying calm and controlled that I envied. So I arrived early to classes sometimes, working with him occasionally, and came late in the day during free recreation for his individual instruction. He never turned me down when I asked to work with him, but he was even harder on me than usual if I asked for private instruction. I think that some part of him enjoyed watching me wince in pain as I followed through with his seemingly impossible tasks.

The sun’s light finally spilled into the training rooms, warming the assorted equipment and punching bags slightly, and Caribou began to shout over us. The chatter of the class instantly quieted, and all eyes turned towards his haggard but powerful figure.

His voice reached my ears. “As all of you know by now, I am the Overseer of the training rooms and your teacher while you are here. Again, as all of you know by now, my name is Caribou, and you’re to call me that and nothing else. None of that Training Overseer nonsense; I’m not fit for such a lowly title and my name’s the only better option I’ve got! This is Cornice here, correct?” The fifteen or so of us nodded, and he continued. “Good! I expect this class to be much farther ahead of your pitiful peers in Aufeis and Sastrugi, and if you’re lacking in the necessary competence, you can do fifty laps around the training rooms!

“So, your first assignment! Cornice, today we’re doing talon-to-talon combat! Pair up and choose a sand pit over there. You know the drill by now, but I’ll review the rules once you’re all paired since you all have the memory of jackrabbits. Now, get moving!” He pointed to his right. Several pale hollows were dug into the stone, providing miniature arenas for one-on-one battles. The wind blew, making the sand swirl over the ground like fog.

I stood alone, watching the others pair up. Everyone was trying to find someone weaker than them, since the grading system for this assignment was obvious: Find a person and beat them up until they surrender to pass, fail if you’re the one beaten into the dirt instead.

A lone dragon was sitting at the other side of the ring, and I couldn’t place his tribe. His scales were an odd combination of blue and white, and the features on his body were familiar but out of place, almost. A hybrid? I was surprised I wasn’t aware of him. I strode towards him, thinking I could get a challenge - he was small but lithe and muscular, and as his silver eyes met mine, he grinned and hooked a talon towards me, accepting my silent challenge while raising a brow suggestively at the same time.

_Oh, come on. Don’t make it like that; I’m going to beat your tail into the sand in a couple minutes._

Before I could meet him, though, a huge male SandWing suddenly shoved at my shoulder, and I turned to find his glowering face shoved in mine. He stood at least two heads taller than I did, and his chest and arms were taut with muscles. A vein pulsed in his neck as he snarled.

“Is there a problem?” I asked. From the glare he drilled into me, I already knew the answer. He looked familiar, and I realized he was the SandWing I’d seen at Puffin’s table earlier during breakfast. My mood instantly soured further.

“When has there ever _not_ been a problem with you? Whenever there’s an issue I care about, you’re part of it somehow. You _blinded_ my sister yesterday,” he hissed. “She was stupid to start a fight in close quarters, but you took it way too far. Leader Iceblink is going to _execute_ her tomorrow because she can’t see anymore, and it’s all your fault.”

The blue-and-white dragon had already found a different partner, and I had no choice but to focus on the SandWing in front of me. Something twisted in my chest, but I squashed it before I could put a name to the emotion.

_It really is my fault. I’d go back and change it if I could._  


But that ugly fire was still smoldering at the back of my throat, and I couldn’t stop the words that sparked from my tongue next. 

“Oh, _you’re_ Jackal. So Hyena’s getting killed because she’s useless now? Guess Iceblink’s putting her on a proper leash this time, since you couldn’t do it yourself.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth, but I wasn’t going to take them back. Hyena hadn’t asked for it. I’d been brash. It really was my fault, what had happened, but I couldn’t think about how well I could understand his feelings. I couldn’t let myself imagine my little brother being carried off to his death now- “You think winning a fight against me will do anything? Just go ahead and try. You’ve failed every final exam for four years in a row now.”

“Of course I’ve failed them,” he hissed, nearly shoving me into the nearest sand pit, wings billowing in a sudden breeze. His eyes burned with rage, and my own anger faltered with sudden uncertainty. “Of _course_ I failed those exams. I’m in Cornice. With my grades from lower ranks, if I graduate, I’m almost certainly getting an assignment so far out in the Rift that the Overseers and Iceblink are going to forget I even exist. Do you know what that means? Do you have _any idea_ what that means to me, you ignorant buffoon?! Who in the three moons was going to look after my idiot sister when I was gone?! Who in the _three blasted moons_ was going to stay by her side and protect her from dragons like you?!

“I have sacrificed _every hope_ of a decent assignment and future for myself to make sure my sister would have a better one. And now? All of that effort was for nothing, because you’ve as good as killed her and I have _nothing_ left. You’re right that fighting you isn’t going to change a thing, but I’m still going to break every bone in your body for what you did.” Jackal’s huge frame trembled with barely-contained fury, and his dark eyes pinned me to the ground.

I felt sick. I couldn’t believe myself. My head was swimming in a flood of my own rage and rekindled grief, and sand-colored scales and red freckles disappearing into an unforgiving sky spiraled in my mind until bile burned in my throat and I had to fight not to throw up.

_What’s wrong with me? When did I become like this? Why am I turning into the dragons I hate the most? Why can’t I fix any of this?_

Caribou shouted again from the front of the training room. “I see you’re all paired up! Whoever admits defeat first loses the points! Whoever loses or breaks the rules gets a lap around the Compound! You cannot put your opponent in mortal danger and you must stop fighting if they surrender! The winner, obviously, gets points towards their rank! Claws up, teeth ready? FIGHT!”

Sand exploded from pits, and roars and blood spilled through the air. Jackal didn’t hesitate for a second, and he lunged for my face, flames already blazing from his throat. I dropped to the ground, rolling to the right and slashing his stomach as I went, but my mind was numb and my limbs felt like they were made of lead. The SandWing roared, even more enraged, and his claws reached for me, teeth snapping near my eyes. I continued to dodge him, twisting past his claws and around his arching tail, unable to attack him again.

_I can’t do this._

My breath came in gasps, and my vision started to blur.

_I can’t do this-_

My wings felt heavy, and my thoughts came in a rush that was agonizingly slow.

_I can’t stay here. I have to get out, have to leave, I can’t-_

My irregular breathing turned to hyperventilation, and I stumbled back, my limbs losing all their strength and my mind completely overtaken by panic and a painfully white void.

Jackal took the opportunity I’d given him and threw himself at my body, knocking me onto my back and landing a solid punch just below my ribs. I felt all of my breath whoosh out of me in a forced choke, and my mind went blank as shock and terror blanketed my fragmented thoughts. Tears were spilling from my eyes, and I almost didn’t register it as flames blazed next to my face. I barely dodged him as claws slashed near my throat. A barbed tail moved into my blurring field of vision, and I scarcely managed to grab it, holding it away from my face desperately, my arm shaking.

_He’s going to kill me._

Claws stabbed at my sides, and I weakly buffeted the SandWing above me with my wings. He batted them to the ground easily, his jaws rushing towards my neck for the kill.

_I can’t die._  
_I can’t die now, not from some pointless fight. Not no matter how much I deserve it._

But I couldn’t bring myself to fight anymore, and all my strength had evaporated like mist in the morning sun. Jackal’s fangs rushed closer, closer-

And then they were shoved out of the way in a blur of white. The mountainous weight on my chest vanished, and I barely registered the impact of Jackal being thrown into the side of the pit. My vision was still blurred from the wetness of my eyes, and it was a long few minutes of empty thoughts and dulled senses before I started to come back.

A blue and white claw was offered to me, and I righted myself, staring as I realized that it was the strange dragon who’d beckoned me to pair up with him earlier. Up close, he was clearly a hybrid. SeaWing and IceWing was my best guess, but I was still too out of it to really figure out what was happening, even as he shot me a concerned smile.

Caribou’s coarse yells finally reached my ears. He had Jackal cornered at the opposite end of the sand pit we were in, claws around the trainee’s forearm like a vise. “SandWing, get out and fly twenty laps for rule violation. How many times have I had to talk to you about excessive violence? Three moons, we’re trying to make soldiers here, not barbarians. And Citrine, I’ll speak to you about this horrifying performance once I finish with this dolt of a SandWing. Just you wait.” The fuming SandWing disappeared with Caribou, and I was left alone with the strange hybrid.

I remembered that I should thank my mysterious peer for helping me up, but when I turned to him, he’d already jumped out of the pit. By the time I thought to call out to him, he was already out of view. Evidently, he wasn’t going to stick around with someone like me. Rage and shame burned in my chest, constricting around my lungs. Somehow, the walls of the mountain seemed to grow taller, and the sky above me seemed far too saturated.

_What have I done?_  
_I can’t fail again._  
_This is already one mistake - how many more am I allowed until I have no room to move or even think? I’ll take Iceblink down and myself if I have to, but I can’t drag anyone else into it. This can’t ever happen again._  
_She’s the only one who should die. I can stop anyone who tries to get in the way, but I can’t hurt them when they have nothing to do with this._  
_I just keep making everything worse. I just want this to be over._  
_I can’t fail again._


	18. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving! And thank you for over 100 hits; it’s nice to know our work is being read :)

~Sunstone~

The sound of the door opening jolted me from my dreams, and I pried open my eyes to peer through the glass doors at the rising sun. It had just begun its journey through the sky, and the very first rays of light just barely peeked over the horizon. Its light crept in but only illuminated a small section of the room, leaving the rest in darkness.

Then there was the noise of talons scrabbling hurriedly over stone, and I froze under my blankets.

_Who is that?_  
_Did one of the trainees from below break in?_  
_Are they going to hurt me? Is Iceblink right about them?!_

I stumbled to my talons, eyes open wide, squinting in the sudden daylight. The faint outline of a dragon moved in front of me, and I blinked, trying to force my eyes into adjusting faster.

“Oh,” mumbled a voice. “You’re awake.” 

It was Pineapple. I rubbed my eyes, and the RainWing finally came into focus. Her bright, lime-green scales were speckled with dark purple. She was standing just outside my miniature sculpting studio with her wings tucked tightly to her side, fidgeting with her lace collar like she always did. As my fear evaporated, she only seemed to grow more scared.

“What’s up?” I asked. “It’s pretty early.” I recalled the last time I’d talked to her, and I felt my ears burn with embarrassment.

“I thought I’d come see you again,” she whispered. “I didn’t think it would be...good to keep avoiding you. I didn’t want you to think I was mad when I was just really nervous. I brought breakfast, too.”

I glanced over at the marble table to find an assortment of food for me to choose from in the basket. “Thanks. That looks really good. Also, Iceblink said she won’t be around until later today, and Flurry will wait until the century is over before he comes to get me for his studies, so…” Why did I hate how hopeful Pineapple looked? Did she understand that I was just trying to be polite, and not leading her on? “So, I’d like you to stay, and I’d like to talk. But you can’t stay here long.”

“Of course.” Out of habit, the RainWing began to set the table, but I stopped her, getting my own plate and eating utensils. I ate in silence for a bit before realizing how awkwardly Pineapple was standing by the table, so I pulled out another plate from the basket and shoveled out some food for her. “Eat,” I said. “It’s good stuff.”

“I know,” she said. “But it’s not meant for me.”

“Come on, you always eat the food I offer you anyway. Iceblink doesn’t care.”

“Leader Iceblink cares about every little thing. You just… You wouldn’t know.”

I stood up and put my unfinished food back in the basket, having lost my appetite. “What’s with the prejudice? You don’t know anything about Iceblink. Please, just eat. I’m not letting my friend go hungry if they’re with me.”

Pineapple said nothing, only gazing forlornly at the plate before slowly taking a bite. “It’s really nice. Like always. Thank you,” she said. She put another small morsel of food into her mouth. We sat together for a long moment, not saying a word, before Pineapple broke the silence. “We should talk.”

“I guess we should,” I said, feeling another pang of guilt. “But I did mean what I said before. Whatever feelings you think you have for me, I can’t return. I’m sorry, and I know you’ll find someone who likes you like that. You’re a really nice dragoness; it’d be impossible if anyone didn’t.”

I gazed at the meal in front of me. There was a fruit basket in the center of the table, with a pineapple in the middle of it all. It had been sliced open from top to bottom, and the insides of the golden fruit were diced, spilling out into the rest of the fruit salad along with the pineapple juice. The fruit reminded me of the cross-sections and diagrams of cut-open animals, organs laid bare for all to see, and I swallowed, no longer hungry.

“I know,” Pineapple was saying. “You’ve made it clear. But can’t we just...try it out, or something? I feel so lonely in the Compound, Sunstone. My parents used to tell me about the Rainforest Kingdom, when they were still around and not patrolling the outer Rift. They said it was beautiful and warm and everything that this place isn’t, and that everyone wanted to be your friend there and the world was on your side. But I can’t leave. I’m stuck here forever, with friends that don’t really care, and I just want someone. Someone who can stand beside me and just be there...just love me.”

“I get the lonely part. I’d love to know more dragons; see the world outside that I’m always reading about in scrolls instead. But I really only want to be your friend. I’m not that dragon for you,” I said, voice breaking. “I’m sorry.”

“You could be,” pleaded Pineapple. She looked as if she was on the verge of tears, and I began to panic, wondering what would happen if she broke down in my rooms. “You _could_ be.”

“No,” I said. “I couldn’t. I’m sorry. I’m not ready for anything like that. You’re literally the only dragon I know who’s my age. I’m still figuring so many things out and for all I know I might not even be attracted to - I’m just not ready. I’m really sorry.”

Instead of crying, Pineapple straightened and turned, packing the basket of food and turning towards the door. “I’m sorry too, Heir.” The title seemed to stab at me, too formal and pretentious to come out of a friend’s mouth. I sucked in a breath, but Pineapple had already started unlocking the door.

“Pineapple, wait, I thought we were going to talk-”

“Heir,” she said again, voice stronger this time but still shaky. “I apologize. I’ve bothered you again, and I said I wouldn’t. I’m being selfish, and it’s wrong of me to impose my problems on you. I’ll...I’ll take my leave now.”

Pineapple twisted the doorknob, and I grabbed her forearm. _“Wait-”_

But the door was already open.

And standing in the threshold was Iceblink.

Pineapple’s yellow eyes went wider than I’d ever seen them go before, and she dropped the basket. The sound of cracking dishes filled the room. I let go of Pineapple’s forearm, dropping it like a dead weight and staring up at Iceblink.

She wasn’t watching me. She was staring at Pineapple with an unreadable expression, and somehow, Iceblink didn’t seem like the dragon I was used to knowing. Her eyes were impossibly cold, and in the dark of the Firn hallway, her shadow seemed almost oily black.

“Iceblink,” I said, remembering Pineapple’s request to hide our friendship and trying to cover for her. “I think this was a mistake. We just-”

“Yes,” Iceblink said coldly. “A mistake.”

I flinched.

Pineapple seemed rooted to the ground underneath her, nearly hyperventilating. I wanted desperately to reach out to her and assure her that Iceblink would do nothing, but I couldn’t say the words with Iceblink watching the RainWing like that. I couldn’t find words at all.

“Pineapple,” Iceblink said, and her voice seemed to crackle with some unseen energy. “Come with me.”

The RainWing seemed to hesitate for a short eternity under Iceblink’s gaze before stepping forward, seemingly in a daze. Like her soul had somehow moved outside of her body, and she was in complete denial - or just pretending that none of this was happening. Even the lime-green of her scales seemed dull, muted under a tint of white.

“Iceblink isn’t going to hurt you,” I whispered, promising her the only thing I knew I could. Pineapple didn’t turn back to look, but I saw her tail tremble.

As soon as the RainWing was out of the room, Iceblink turned her icy gaze on me and I flinched again. “I believe that you are late for your studies with second-in-command Flurry.”

I bowed my head. “Yeah - Yes. I am. I’m sorry, Iceblink. I’ll go pack my materials and leave for his chambers.”

Iceblink nodded once and left down the hallway, and Pineapple followed her all the way to the winding stairs and the darkness below.

**. . .**

Flurry did not seem to be a stranger to my sudden confusion and sadness, and he pointed it out almost as soon as I entered his rooms - but not before chiding me on my tardiness.

“Sunstone,” he said brusquely. “You’re late. Come and sit down; we should get to chapter ten of _Inferno: Kairos Rising_ by the end of our lesson today.”

That scroll…

I’d really liked it, reading it, and I’d been so annoyed when Flurry wouldn’t let me take it home. He could call it an important piece of history all he wanted, but it was just an awe-inspiring underdog story to me.

But now? I already knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on the plot or characters. I’d left Pineapple brokenhearted and fearful of Iceblink, of all dragons. What kind of friend did that? I’d been too harsh. The regret was overwhelming. I unrolled the scroll to where I’d left off, at the beginning of chapter six, but the words were suddenly blurry. I sighed and rested my face in my claws, holding back the tears.

“Is something the matter, Sunstone?” Flurry’s voice only sounded vaguely annoyed, not concerned, and I let out a shuddering sigh.

“No,” I said, but it still came out high-pitched and whimpery. I mentally kicked myself.

“Tell me what happened, Sunstone.” For some reason, I felt like my teacher was actually listening, so I relented.

“My maid - my friend,” I explained, looking up at Flurry. “Pineapple. Iceblink took her away…”

Flurry’s expression was unreadable. “Took her away.”

“I don’t even know why,” I burst out. “She’s always so anxious, and I was being a horrible friend, and now she’s all alone with Iceblink, who she’s terrified of. And I just let her go and did nothing. Who does that? Why do I feel like I messed up really bad just now?”

Flurry turned away. “...I understand. My granddaughter met a similar end, where I could do nothing. She had done nothing wrong, at least not on purpose. But the perpetrator was still never brought to justice. I should have seen it coming, but I suppose that maybe dragons are just destined to fall into evil. Like me.” The last words were a whisper.

“Perpetrator? What happened?” I asked, voice still shaky.

“She was murdered.”

I frowned. Why was he sharing so much all of a sudden? Wasn’t this kind of a bit much for one conversation? “Hey, I’m sorry about your granddaughter and all that, and I know that you’re a horrible teacher, but you’re not _evil,_ Flurry. Besides, I’d know if you were, and I’d stop you from being that way. What are you implying, anyway? I’m going to apologize to Pineapple if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Flurry gazed at me before drawing the curtains closed, shrouding the room in darkness. “Not all that glitters is gold, my student. But I appreciate your optimism.” I hesitated before smiling slightly, not sure what else to do. Flurry tilted his head. “I’ll tell Iceblink that we finished lessons early. Class is over, Sunstone, so go find something relaxing to do. I’m deeply sorry about your friend. Oh, and take _Inferno: Kairos Rising_ with you. I know you like it.”

I was still in shock when he pushed me out the door, scroll in hand. It might have been just the nicest thing he’d ever said to me, and yet his gaze seemed so pitying.


	19. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Content Warning: explicit gore (more detailed than canon-typical violence).**

~Citrine~

I stood alone in the middle of the mess hall. Lunch had just finished, and the rest of the students had either flown off to the dorm commons or trailed into the dark hallways, eager to have any amount of free time before the next class began, and I was debating whether to follow them. I wasn’t really looking forward to my next class in the training rooms. Training Overseer Caribou had spent a great deal of time screaming in my face and shoving me around in his small, distinctly not-soundproofed office before sending me on my way after what had happened last week.

Hyena had been executed three days ago. It had been quick and quiet - almost merciful. It hadn’t been public, since she hadn’t broken the Sacred Five, but all of the trainees and resident graduates had seen her body being lowered into the lake as a burial. Jackal hadn’t been present.

Everyone knew what had happened - whenever a trainee died, the reasons were always reported to everyone in an assembly. The assembly was meant to honor the passed and have a moment of silence for them, as decreed by Leader Iceblink, but it really just reminded us that nothing was private in the Compound. Not even the disclosure of our deaths.

I’d gotten a few stares, and a lot of whispers, but I’d stayed quiet and the rest of the trainees forgot me again. Before long, their eyes were turned away to the next dragon who messed up, and I could quietly climb the class ranks as usual.

Jackal tried hard not to show how much Hyena’s death had hit him, but with every passing day, he seemed to collapse even farther inward on himself, as if it was finally occurring to him that he’d never see his sister again - the truth of it was like a stake that pushed itself an inch deeper into his heart every day. Watching him break down only brought back memories I had from the past that I’d tried so desperately to suppress, and it hurt even more to know I was the one responsible. Seeing him suffer made my heart crack in places I’d already tried to piece back together too many times, so I stayed out of his way.

_That look in his eyes... I did that to him._  
_I should’ve just pushed her out of the way. I never should have used my fire._  
_Maybe, back then, if I’d done something different, would everything be okay now? Would Sunstone still be-_  
_Don’t think. Don’t feel. Just keep going._

Since my failure, though, I had worked harder than ever, moving close to the top of all my classes. I wouldn’t allow my pride to trip me up again. I couldn’t allow anyone to get involved with me. If my class was given a project, I’d get one of the highest marks. If we were in the training rooms, I’d be the last one standing in a brawl organized by Caribou. I could hurt the other trainees if they got in my way. I could stay so far out of the loop that half the class didn’t know I existed. I just couldn’t let anyone get dragged into the messy web of lies I’d threaded for myself - I wasn’t the spider they needed to watch for. As long as Iceblink was dead at the end of this, it would be worth it.

_I don’t need anything else. I’ll be alright._  
_I won’t stick around for the aftermath anyway._

I was dumping my lunch tray and packing my things, about to fly to my next class, when the ringing of a certain gong reverberated through the walls of the Compound. Something in the material and shape of this particular one made the sound almost ghostly and ethereal, something not quite out of this world but close enough. Although no one was around me, I could feel the whole Compound go still as the hollow note sounded five times.

This wasn’t the brass bell they rang to signal when classes started or finished. When that gong rang, it only meant one thing. Rules in the Sacred Five had been broken, and someone was going to die. Everyone within earshot of that gong would be there to watch. Presence for a public execution like that, an execution of the highest order - Sacred Execution - was mandatory. Leader Iceblink never forced a dragon to watch, but no one was allowed to skip. After a tense moment, I ducked into a tunnel. The dark halls closed in around my wings, and I felt stone graze my barbed tail as I passed the other dragons spilling into the hallway on our way to our destination. 

The light of the assembly hall was dull and faint, lit by torches few and far between, and I had to squint for a second before my eyes adjusted. I spotted an unfamiliar dragon on the wide stone pedestal ahead, bound in iron chains. The huge gong on the ground below it was still vibrating, but the nauseating sound of it was finally dying out as the murmurs of the trainees and graduates began to smother it. There was some laughing and jeering from the younger trainees - mostly Sastrugi-ranked - but the graduates that were still in the Compound were more mature. Even so, it wasn’t too uncommon for the most lowly to place bets on how long the dragon being executed would last, using small bits of jerky or hardtack as betting chips, even though Leader Iceblink had banned it out of disrespect.

Today, though, the criminal on stage wasn’t any dragon I recognized. They didn’t have the hardened look of a seasoned trainee, and they didn’t look old enough to be one of the graduates, but they were also far too old to be a know-nothing from Aufeis. I moved closer to the dais, the dragon coming into sharper focus. She was a female RainWing, probably a few years younger than me, only about seven years old at the very most. She wore the lace choker that marked her a simple servant of the Compound. It was frayed at the edges to the point where it looked like it might fall off.

The servants were the lowest-ranked in the whole Compound, even lower than the guards or medics. They cooked food for the trainees, washed the floors and walls, and waited on dragons like Iceblink and the Overseers in Firn. Servants had no real role that could change anything, and no power to use against anyone. So how was one being executed? The dragoness on stage didn’t look like the type to even think about trying to break the Sacred Five.

The RainWing’s bright, yellow-gold eyes were wide, and heavy metal chains around her ankles bolted her to the rocks beside the ice lake. Her scales had turned completely pale green, speckled with white near the shackles. Three masked and hooded IceWings emerged from the shadows of an obscure tunnel near the stage, and they took their places around the dragon. Their masks were solid black cloth, completely featureless, and they hid the identities of the IceWings like a smokescreen.

The IceWings onstage were graduates, rumored to be some of the founders of the Compound alongside Leader Iceblink. Even so, they were simply known as the Executioners, and they remained unseen to dragons if an execution was not taking place, although all three must’ve had other positions somewhere in the Compound. All three lived in Firn, but no one had seen them enough to know for sure who they were. A somber aura always surrounded them, cloaking each like a shroud that couldn’t be removed.

Leader Iceblink had taken her place at the forefront of the stage. She flared her wings, extending them like a white canvas to each side of her body, and the entire cavern fell silent. Her voice carried over the crowd. “I don’t think I ask too much of my trainees. The Sacred Five are my only rules. It still astounds me that some of you would go so far as to break them, but offenders must be punished. Guilty until proven innocent, and as we all know... No one is innocent.” Iceblink turned her freezing gaze towards the RainWing. “Pineapple, Servant and Maid, you stand guilty of breaking two of the Sacred Five: The release of propaganda detrimental to the Compound’s noble cause and attempt at romantic relations without my permission. Is there anything you’d like to say for yourself?” 

The RainWing, Pineapple, began to quiver, trying to hide her face in her wings. “I did nothing,” she whimpered, barely audible from how far back I was. “All I told him was that...that I liked him. I never expected him to return any feelings. I just wanted him to know. And I never told him anything bad about you or the Compound. Please, I don’t want to die today...”

“You told him you liked him? Pineapple, you knew what was going to happen.” Leader Iceblink’s eyes were colder than the bottom of the sea, and the RainWing froze under her gaze, unmoving save for the tears gathering in her eyes. A smile appeared on Iceblink’s face, careful and cold. “I do not think that you know how much you put at risk by saying those words. Years of careful planning… They could have all gone to waste from the lies you tried to spread. Does the mission we all work towards truly mean so little to you? Does it mean nothing to you that you are one of the vertebrae of an empire that _will_ take down the darkness in this world; _will_ remove the disgrace of the NightWings from Pyrrhia?”

How did this dragon ever work up the nerve to break the rules? How desperate did they have to be, to go so far despite knowing the consequences? What had been on the line to make certain death so worth it?

The RainWing on the dais shrunk inward on herself, and started sobbing gibberish. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry... It wasn’t supposed to end this way, I just wanted him to like me back and then we’d die together and I wouldn’t feel so alone; it’s all my fault and…and… Where are my parents? I know you sent them away, and now I’ll never see the rainforest and I’ll never get to go home and I’ll never know what it’s like to be happy and Sun-”

“That’s enough,” Leader Iceblink said, cutting her off. “Words shouldn’t be used by dragons that use them for incorrect purposes. Dragonets of the Rift are taught to be more than willful, oblivious animals and slaves to biological desire. You’re given a place to be more than a useless life, but some of you regress from my gifts to you anyway. For those that are worthless...there’s no reason for you to live, without a purpose or identity. So I clean the stain you leave behind and return you to the Rift, where your blood might bring life to the earth and water around you. Then, maybe you’ll be worth more than nothing.”

The RainWing sniffled, rubbing at her eyes. She couldn’t meet Iceblink’s freezing gaze. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Iceblink tilted her head, as if she was watching a struggling mouse between her claws. She was quiet for a long moment before she spoke, wearing a smile that was almost pitying. “Cut out her tongue, because she clearly doesn’t know how to use it.” The three Executioners converged on the RainWing, who was visibly shaking, teeth chattering from her trembles. Iceblink continued. “Then, disembowel her. Make sure the stage is spotless when you’re done.”

Leader Iceblink turned and left through one of the tunnels. She rarely stayed to watch an execution, but her Executioners always followed her instructions. Two of the masked IceWings crept closer, circling around the RainWing. Without warning, they leaped at her face, one grabbing her lower jaw and the other wrapping his talons around her upper jaw and head. The RainWing’s eyes went wide, talons shaking, trying to reach her face but unable to raise her arms against the taut chains wrapped around her wrists. The masked IceWings pulled her jaws wide open, and she tried desperately to close them, whimpering in pain and choking out unintelligible pleas.

Suddenly, a crack rang out through the assembly hall, jolting everyone to attention. The RainWing’s jaw had been ripped completely out of its place, and the edges of her mouth tore slightly. Twin ribbons of scarlet trailed down her neck, mixing with her tears past her legs and wings and puddling on the ground.

The RainWing let out a garbled shriek, forearms thrashing. The IceWings held them down, making way for the last executioner. His claws had iron blades attached to them, curved like fishhooks and sharpened to the point where they would cut through flesh like a dagger dropped blade-first into the sea. Trainees always called him Ironclaws. He was the most silent and elusive of all the executioners, and the worst of the job always fell to him. There were rumors that he was an important Overseer, but no one knew for sure.

Pineapple must have seen him and his glinting iron talons, because she began to flail wildly, shoving at her executioners and lashing at them with her wings and tail. The masked and hooded IceWings only held her tighter in response, still silent as they wrapped the chains on her limbs ever tighter. The RainWing’s white tail turned slightly purple, and I realized the chains had been tightened to the point where they cut off blood flow.

Ironclaws made his way to Pineapple slowly, and his black mask wrinkled slightly as he stared her down. I couldn’t tell if he was smiling or wincing. Her eyes widened, pale white completely surrounding her golden irises. They seemed to bulge slightly from their sockets, and her gaze darted every which way in desperation. The two IceWings with their talons wrapped around her head and jaws pulled even harder, widening her gaping mouth to a grotesque point. Blood ran faster, starting to form small puddles on the ground.

The RainWing began to scream, trying but failing to escape from her chains. The IceWing with the iron talons reached into her throat, and blood began to bubble up and overflow past his forearm. The RainWing’s scream intensified to an ear-shattering wail, making the glass covering a nearby lantern tremble and threading into every dragon’s ear like a needle that gnawed at the skin of our eardrums. I winced and looked away, tasting bile in the back of my throat. I felt dizzy.

Ironclaws suddenly retracted his arm from her gaping mouth, throwing a mangled, blood-covered fleshy shape to the ground behind him - her tongue. The RainWing continued to scream, blood gushing from her mouth in erratic spurts. The executioner with the iron claws nodded curtly to the others, and they released the RainWing from their grasp. She doubled over, clutching at her face with blood-stained talons. She started to choke and gag, blood dripping from between her claws. Her jaw hung limp from her cheeks.

Without warning, one of the IceWings stepped around her, shoving her over. The RainWing staggered, wings flailing, falling to the ground and leaving her belly and neck exposed. She was completely at the mercy of the IceWing standing over her.

The Executioners had forgotten mercy.

Without missing a beat, Ironclaws sliced her open from collarbone to tail, the RainWing’s internal organs spilling onto the stone dais in a mess of dark blood and bile. She rolled onto her side, still reaching for her face, and her wings and tail spasmed before becoming still, splayed around her blood-soaked body. A gurgle rose from her throat, and her talons twitched. The IceWings around her stepped back.

The light behind her eyes went out and her scales dimmed to a dull, dead white. The RainWing was gone. Two of the IceWings reached for her body, holding it with an eerie gentleness before sweeping it into the lake behind them. Soon after, the organs followed, and only one of the executioners stayed behind to wash out the blood in the stone underneath them.

The lake in the Compound was a mass grave. No one really knew how many bodies were under the surface of the water, and if anyone had been counting, they’d lost track. But any dragon who died in the Compound stayed in the Compound, in the deepest and darkest parts of the water we all lived our lives around.

It was like some sick joke that Iceblink had made for every trainee to suffer from. I still felt nauseous, and my legs and wings trembled as I tried to follow the others to my next class. My knees gave out anyway. I had to sit down at an alcove in the cavern wall and hold my head in my talons, struggling not to hyperventilate.

That RainWing had wanted escape, but she would never truly leave. No one ever would.

The same would be true for Iceblink. I’d make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Content Warning Summary: After lunch, Citrine and the rest of the Compound residents are summoned to the assembly hall for the public execution of Pineapple. Afterwards, her remains are washed into the lake in the center of the Compound.**


	20. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a more lighthearted chapter after our last one’s grim vibes  
Drop an F in the chat for Pineapple, she will be missed :’)

~Sunstone~

When I woke up the next morning, my rooms felt distinctly empty without Pineapple. My stomach felt the same about breakfast - was she that sad or angry, to be able to avoid me so much? On the stone table, however, there was a small piece of parchment. I dragged myself from the bed and walked over to it, picking the delicate paper up.

** _Sunstone, Heir and Student of Firn:_ **  
** _Come early to your lessons - I have prepared breakfast and you must be hungry. Do not wait long; our time is limited._ **  
** _Flurry_ **

I sighed and tossed the note in the wastebasket before exiting my room, still yawning. Glancing down the hall hopefully, I was sorely disappointed since Pineapple was nowhere in sight. I waved to the emptiness anyway, hoping that she might appear so that I could apologize for yesterday’s events.

Needless to say, she didn’t show up, and I looked like an idiot.

I walked over to Flurry’s rooms and knocked on the door. A moment later, he opened it and welcomed me in as usual, but something was off. I blinked. There had been several changes to his rooms overnight. Instead of a lonely desk in the center of the classroom portion of his rooms, there was a large round table covered with sweet-smelling bread and fruit. The giant slate that he wrote lectures and formulas on was gone, vanished from the wall, along with the millions of diagrams and pictures of cross-sections. In fact, almost everything scholarly was gone, save for the scrolls that lined the walls, removed from their shelves.

“What happened here?” I wondered aloud.

Flurry smiled. “Think of it as an upgrade. Now, why don’t you start eating, and then I’ll explain.”

I sat down at the table and picked up a roll of sweet bread, biting into it carefully. “Okay…?”

Flurry sat down across from me and began to speak. “I have decided that it would be necessary to change the curriculum of your education. What Leader Iceblink believes you should learn… I just do not necessarily think that her idea of an education would prevail in the Rift. The Rift is not for upstanding sons of nobles, spoiled until their brains curdle, living a life in extravagant palaces and learning how to convert the bases of logarithms and studying every type of grammatical use for commas. The Rift is for dragons that are brave and strong and empathetic, and of those dragons I can only say that we have too little. What I mean to say is that what we’re doing is unnecessary and a waste. I think we should change things up.”

“But you planned my curriculum from the very beginning,” I pointed out.

“That...is incorrect,” Flurry said. “Leader Iceblink did all of that. Now, it is time for a bit of variation, if you know what I mean. And Leader Iceblink is _not_ going to find out. The difference of my ideas and her plans equals the sum of your potential - don’t look at me like that, Sunstone, I am _allowed_ to make a joke.”

I frowned, taking another bite of bread. “I don’t like not telling Iceblink about this. I mean, if you’ve got better ideas for my education, that’s great, but would she really be against it?”

“I would not take the risk.” Flurry’s eyes were dark, watching me carefully. “There is much you have yet to understand.”

I sighed, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. “What would be my new curriculum, anyway?”

“We’ll be cutting the math, the politics, the economics. In fact, we might as well just cut out everything you’ve been learning about thus far. In place of it, however? Lessons that will actually help you in the future. Pyrrhian geography. Relevant history. Survival techniques, although we may not be able to do proper demonstrations.” Flurry seemed almost excited as he smiled at me.

I smiled back. “I mean, I guess that sounds more fun and more necessary, but...why? Why are you doing this, and why now? Why is knowing any of that stuff better than what I’ve had before? I’m stuck in Firn anyway, and you’ve had five years of opportunities to do this.”

Flurry turned away. “There is still time left to make a change, but we’re losing it, and fast. After what happened with your friend… We may still have opportunities, but we need to take them.” He nodded at me. “Go now, and do something useful with your time. I’ll work out a new schedule for lessons.”

_Weirdo. What could Pineapple have to do with this?_

I was about to leave when I felt his talons on my shoulder. Glancing back, I saw Flurry staring me down. “Sunstone?”

“Yes?”

“Never say a word about this to Leader Iceblink, alright? You’ll understand eventually.”

“...Alright.”

****

**. . .**

I was still pondering my tutor’s behavior as I plopped down at my granite table, carving tools in my claws. It wasn’t time for my lesson yet, but there wasn’t anything else for me to do besides wait for Pineapple to return.

_Pineapple. I just rang for her, so I’ll finally get to apologize._

I recounted the events from yesterday inside my head. How did I always manage to be the worst friend? It was like we were living in separate worlds.

_I really should have been nicer. She can be so fragile sometimes._  
_I already miss her._

I decided on quartz for the sculpture, not very expensive but not as pretty either. After all, what I was planning to carve wasn’t supposed to be a masterpiece - just another ordinary part of my makeshift portfolio, so it didn’t need to be anything special. My tools were arranged in their usual fashion, and I picked up my mallet and chisel, ready to start.

_Where do I begin?_  
_What am I even trying to make?_

I sat there for a while, tools limp in my talons, not knowing where to start. My mind kept wandering to Pineapple or Flurry or Iceblink, and every time I refocused I grew more and more frustrated. I glanced over towards a scroll laying out on the ground, halfway open and revealing an assortment of meaningless words. I groaned, my thoughts too clouded with remorse to even think about the jumble of numbers and nonsense. At least, if Flurry had meant what he’d said, I’d be able to get rid of that scroll soon. Then I wouldn’t have to be tortured by it when I was _trying_ to be _creative._

Looking back at the stone, my mind shifted back to Pineapple. I’d rung her in not too long ago, so it wouldn’t be long until she arrived. My gaze lifted up towards the door, and I began to run through different apologies in my head.

_I am deeply sorry for…_  
_I am just the worst friend. I am so…_  
_I am so, so sorry for being so...horrible, and I pity your paranoia…_  
_How could I leave you with your stupid misguided fears alone…? I am sorry..._

I set my stone down, slumping defeatedly over the back of my chair. I closed my eyes, secretly hoping she had just forgotten everything and we could move on without need of apologies and awkward conversation. I dozed off, forgetting all the words and complications before I was jolted back to reality by a hard knock at the door.

_Odd._  
_Pineapple barely makes a noise when she knocks._

I made my way towards the door, frantically trying to choose how I would apologize. My talons shook as they grazed the doorknob, and I froze, not knowing what to do.

“Hello. Is this the Heir’s room?” The voice was unfamiliar, laced with a slight rasp, and filled with contempt.

I pulled the door open slowly, bewildered. “Yes?”

The door creaked open to reveal a skinny SandWing holding the wicker basket, craning her neck to the side in an anticipating manner. Her scales were tinged with a pale gold, and along her sides and wings were black speckles. A lace choker was taut around her neck. Her smile was wide, but her obsidian eyes flickered with malice.

_Who are you? Someone from below? You’re not Pineapple. Where is Pineapple?_  
_What did you do with my friend? What are you planning to do with me?_

“Why, _hello_ then, Heir. It’s _such_ a pleasure to meet you. Pineapple always said that you were the most gorgeous dragon she’d ever seen, but then again, she has - had bad taste.” She laughed darkly, flicking my shoulder in a way that would’ve seemed playful if not for the way she let the tip of her talon dig into the soft space between my scales for half a second.

_Oh, poor Pineapple. Wasn’t there a way I could have let her down more gently?_

I narrowed my eyes. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“I’m your new maid. You can call me Yucca, or darling dearest if you must.” Her voice was full of venom, and she glanced out the window towards the lake with something like rage in her eyes. “Leader Iceblink will be here shortly. I’m afraid that she had some business to take care of with a dragoness downstairs, so she’ll be just a _teeny weeny_ bit late.”

_Yucca? I feel like Pineapple’s mentioned her before. Maybe she’s a friend, and she can help me contact her._

She moved to set down the tray on the table. Her moves were jerky and forced, as if every scale on her body hated being inside of my rooms. I couldn’t understand it - even Pineapple had been more relaxed, but this dragoness seemed to hate me with every passive-aggressive core of their being.

_Pineapple._

“Excuse me,” I said after she finished, not wanting to distract her. “I would like to make a request.”

“Oh, do order me around, Heir.” The dragon began to wipe down the shining table, too focused on her work or annoyed at me for unknown reasons to look up.

“You really don’t have to call me that,” I started. The SandWing ignored me, scrubbing at the table ferociously. “Oh, uh, I would just like to ask for my old maid back - Pineapple. It seems like you knew her. Besides, I never asked for a new maid.”

This time, she paused and looked me right in the eye, face expressionless, yet her ebony-hued eyes spilled over with hate. Clenching her talons around the tablecloth, she returned to her work silently.

_What did I do wrong?_

“Heir, I think you don’t understand. Pineapple’s been _reassigned._ You won’t be seeing her anytime soon, and I suppose I won’t either.” She sighed, wringing out the rag she’d used to clean the table and beginning to pack her things back into the wicker basket. “You’re not the one who gets to decide if you can play with Pineapple instead, so I guess you’re stuck with me.”

_Reassigned? Is that because of me? Did Iceblink arrange this because she thought it would make me feel better?_  
_Or did Pineapple request for it herself?_  
_Why? I just need to apologize._

“Oh,” I mumbled, only half paying attention to Yucca now. I gazed at the uncarved piece of quartz, thoughts swirling.

“Is there a problem, Heir?” Yucca finished packing her things, slinging the basket over her shoulder. For some reason, she sounded almost angry, perhaps suspicious.

I looked back up at her, snapping back to reality. “Actually, could you give Pineapple a message from me?”

Yucca’s forced smile faltered, and she turned away, glaring at the door knob. “Um, _totally._ What should I say?”

_Was there a quaver in her voice just now?_

“Oh... Tell her that I’m sorry. Tell her I know I let her down, and that I’m sorry I couldn’t be a better dragon, and that I hope she’s alright and that I hope she’ll forgive me one day,” I said quickly. “And that it would be great if she came back, even not as my maid. Just as a friend.”

“Fine.” The SandWing’s wings trembled slightly. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do. I’ll see you at dinner, or sooner if you ring.”

She walked out the door, and it shut behind her.

“You too,” I said, staring at the dishes of food laid out on the table. Somehow, after the recent events, they didn’t seem as appetizing as I thought they would be. But at least Yucca would deliver my apology, even if I wasn’t the one saying the words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week is the last chapter of Arc II! It feels like just a couple weeks ago that we posted the prologue.
> 
> Anyway, what’s in store for Arc III is two new POV characters, and, uh, is that the beginnings of a relationship that *isn't* doomed to be platonic? Will the romance tag on this fic finally mean something?? We don’t know yet, but stay tuned!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading c:


	21. The Mountain Fortress ~ 2.10

~Citrine~

I couldn’t get that itch in my wings that begged me to fly away from the Compound out of my scales, and I was feeling more claustrophobic than usual, so I’d come to the training rooms during free rec. Even with the sky overhead, the Compound still towered around me like a cage, but it was better than nothing. The monotony of practicing with my daggers and lifting weights at least took my mind off of other things that threatened to constrict around my lungs again. It gave me peace of mind to pretend I didn’t feel as sick as I always did.

The constant suffocation. The way my heart always sped up and my muscles always tensed whenever I saw that IceWing; whenever she turned her eyes to watch me. I knew I was just another trainee to her now, and I’d tried to teach myself to feel nothing but rage when she came close, but it didn’t stop the memories from that dungeon cell or the way I constantly felt like I was spiraling out of control. It didn’t stop the memories of Sunstone’s screaming, or how small and powerless I felt in front of her no matter how well I could conceal it.

_I have to get it together._   
_I have to stop feeling this way if Iceblink is ever going to get what she deserves - if I can ever give Sunstone what he’d want._

I dropped the weight I was using, resting my forehead in my talons. A shimmer of frosty blue caught my eye, and I glanced to the side to find Puffin. He was sitting alone near an outcrop of stalagmites, group of friends nowhere to be seen. The IceWing didn’t seem to be training. He just stared out at the other dragons, eventually catching my eye before tensing up and looking away.

Not that many dragons knew much about Puffin. Sure, his father’s status as the Graduate Overseer was common knowledge, but that was most of what anybody knew of him. His mother was rumored to be part of the Founders - the first IceWings that had created the Compound - and that Puffin was her spitting image, but dragons said that she was a cripple and a failure living in the Firn levels out of pure sentiment from Leader Iceblink.

That was partly true. Iceblink always put down the dragons that couldn’t provide for the Compound, and Puffin’s mother had been no different. She would’ve done it that day three years ago if Puffin hadn’t stepped in - the blue IceWing had gotten down on his knees and begged Iceblink to let his mother live. It was the weakest he’d ever let himself look.

He’d gotten his wish, but it came with its price. Now he was just Iceblink’s lapdog, forced to report everything he’d seen and heard back to her by the end of the day. A spy and a tool who’d never have the luxury of having real friends, no matter how much he tried to convince himself he had them.

I didn’t know what had gotten into me today, but I approached him anyway. “Puffin.”

He turned his head to face me again, and his eyes flickered with recognition. “Citrine.”

We used to be friends of a sort, back when we were still Aufeis trainees and in the first couple months of Sastrugi. We’d both hated the system Leader Iceblink imposed on us, and we spent nearly every moment we could training together. But then he’d cut off contact with me a few weeks after his sacrifice for his mother and hadn’t spoken a word to me since. I hadn’t tried to chase after him. I’d just let him go, so he told his friends that I’d abandoned him. Maybe he was right, but I didn’t care. I’d stopped caring about relationships a long time ago. They’d only burden what I needed to do, and I’d probably only end up being a burden myself.

Now, Puffin was colder than ice and three times as distant despite his friendly disposition, and we tried to avoid each other as much as we could. I wouldn’t ever admit it, but I missed being his friend. I missed being able to have someone to rely on and lean on when things got tough, and I missed just having someone to talk to casually about anything at all. I wished I’d made more of an effort to reach out back then, or that I hadn’t immediately assumed the worst and left him to figure out his new tragedy on his own. But Puffin and I had already burnt our bridges, and it looked like neither of us was going to rebuild them. I didn’t know why I was standing in front of him now.

“Train with me?” I asked, by way of offer. I swung my barbed tail out in front of me as a silent challenge. Puffin’s eyes glinted, and his spines bristled as his wings billowed in a sudden gust of wind.

His jagged claws twitched, and his mouth edged downwards. “You should go. You know nothing is going to change. Stop trying to approach me just to make yourself feel better about what you did.”

“There’s nothing I need to make myself feel better about,” I hissed, only half-honest. “You’re the one who broke things off without an explanation. You should grow up. I’m actually trying to make a difference now, but you’re too busy using your other friends as shields to cushion your pride.”

“That’s right, Citrine. That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Puffin gave me a long look, and something about his expression made me want to jab my talons at his eyes. “I have actual relationships and connections? Wow, I must be really insecure, says the dragon who doesn’t have any friends and spends all day fantasizing about plans they’ll never have the guts to carry out. You should be thankful I still care enough not to report you to Leader Iceblink. Dragons like you just waste the air that they breathe.”

Puffin turned and padded into the nearest tunnel, leaving me behind without another word. I opened my mouth to snap back at him, but someone else’s voice cut me off, the condescending tone of it all too familiar. I glanced over my shoulder, even more irritated, just to find the two IceWing sisters cornering a smaller dragon at the edge of one of the sand pits used for combat practice. They looked huge in comparison to the dragon they surrounded.

“_What_ did you just say about me?!” one of the IceWing sisters barked, taking a swipe at their target. The tiny dragoness ducked, and her white scales glittered in the sun from the movement. She was an IceWing, too, from the looks of it, but I didn’t recognize her. “You should go choke yourself with your tail. We’re real members of our tribe, unlike you pathetic excuse of a dragon.”

_I wish everyone would just be quiet._

The claustrophobic feeling from earlier was coming back, heavier than before, and the sounds of their argument made tension coil around my throat. I tried to stifle the growing rage in the back of my mind.

“You don’t get to tell me-” The smaller dragoness’s indignant protests were cut off by Pneumonia’s talons locking around her neck. The other sister lifted her up effortlessly and tossed the tiny IceWing into the sand pit, and she choked out an exclamation, coughing on sand. Pneumococcal laughed, scattering a handful of sand towards the smaller dragoness’s eyes. The white dragoness beneath them struggled to the edge of the sand pit, but the IceWing sisters just pushed her back in. She fell to the bottom, sneezing and shaking out dust from her gangly wings. She spit a few bright sparks at them, gasping for breath. “Let me out of here!”

My breath was starting to come quicker, but I still felt rooted to the ground beneath me. I just wanted a bit of peace. I didn’t want to deal with this anymore. So why couldn’t I move?

Pneumonia leaned towards the tiny IceWing until their snouts nearly touched. “Oh, boo-hoo, looks like you’re a little stuck. Just try and run away. What’s your problem, anyway? We’re just training.”

“Yeah, right, we were training until you started trying to _kill_ me two minutes ago!” snapped the smaller dragoness.

_Is a moment of tranquility too much to ask in this moons-forsaken mountain?_

Somehow finding movement among all the tension in my limbs, I groaned, rubbing my temples and walking over. “Hey, why don’t you three shut up, take this somewhere else, and give everyone else a moment of much-needed silence-”

The dragoness trapped underneath Pneumonia leapt up and roared, taking a swing at her snout, but Pneumococcal shoved her backwards. She slipped to the bottom of the sand pit again, rubbing at her eyes angrily. The expressions on the two IceWing sisters’ faces darkened, and Pneumonia drew a serrated knife out of her satchel. The dragoness’s face went even paler than it already was. There wasn’t anywhere to run. Even if she flew, the two sisters had her trapped.

Despite knowing I’d just attract attention if I intercepted the trio, I couldn’t bring myself to turn away. It just felt wrong, and after my despicable mistake with Hyena and Jackal, it was unacceptable. Besides, even if it was purely sentimental, something in the smaller white dragoness’s eyes reminded me of amber irises and red freckles-

I blocked it out, instead focusing on the knife in Pneumonia’s claws, and I sighed, already knowing where this was going. Stepping forward, I grabbed my own dagger out of my satchel, preparing to tackle Pneumonia - but a white blur flew out of the sand pit, knocking the knife out of Pneumonia’s talons and clawing at the IceWing’s face.

Pneumonia roared, exhaling frostbreath everywhere, and the white dragoness ducked out of the way. I spotted three bleeding lines of blue newly decorating the IceWing’s face, seeping into the cracks between her scales.

_Oh, that’s...extremely satisfying. Very impressive._

The white dragoness snarled. “That’s what you get for being _mean.”_

_And that choice of words is...not nearly as impressive. Who is this dragon?_

Pneumonia looked like she was about to explode, but Pneumococcal dragged her sister away towards the exit, hissing all the while. I turned to the white dragoness to find her shaking sand out of her wings. 

From the start, I’d assumed that she was an IceWing, but it just didn’t line up anymore. She didn’t have the icicle ruff or the jagged claws, and she’d been spitting fire, not frost. Looking again, I saw that her eyes were red. Red like rubies or garnets embedded in her skull, a stark contrast from the dull white of her scales.

She glanced back at me before eyeing the dagger in my claws with raised brows, and I realized that I was staring. “Oh, do I have to do that little trick again? Because I don’t even know what I did, like, by the moons, that was pure luck. Who are you, anyway?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” I said shortly. “I was planning to help, but it looks like you didn’t need it.”

“Well then, that’s cool,” she said, smiling brightly. “What’s your name? Glad to know that there’s someone here whose moral compass isn’t completely broken, at least.”

_Yeah, that’s debatable at best. Three moons, I was hoping you wouldn’t be this talkative._

I sighed. “Citrine. Cornice.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Saxifrage,” she replied. Her voice was a bit low for a dragoness, and a slight fry crept into her words at the ends of her sentences. “Sastrugi. And just to get it out of the way so we don’t have to have a more awkward conversation later - I’m a SkyWing. One hundred percent. I just look like this, because, well, albinism has consequences. Including ignorant IceWings. Are you a hybrid? You look like a hybrid.”

_Oh, wow. That’d be cool if I actually cared._

“SandWing and SkyWing here,” I said, raising a shoulder in a shrug. “Long story.”

Saxifrage smiled. Again. “I guess I could say the same. Well, um, thanks for wanting to help, even if I didn’t end up needing it.”

_Why would you thank me when I didn’t do anything for you? I should be the last dragon in the whole Rift that anyone would think twice about. What do you want from me?_

And yet, Saxifrage’s incessant smile seemed genuine, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to have her as a friend. How would I be supposed to act? What would the world be like with someone who actually knew me and cared about me again?

_Yeah, right. She’s just putting on a show to be nice._   
_She doesn’t mean anything she says. No one would waste their time on you._

I shut my wandering imagination down and stepped back. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not my problem. I think I’m going to go-”

“So soon?” Saxifrage actually looked disappointed, and her expression made me pause. “It’s still a few minutes before the next class starts.”

“Why do you want to talk to me? Is there something you want?” I narrowed my eyes, but I settled into a sitting position.

Saxifrage shrugged and sat down. “There’s nothing I want. You just seem like an interesting dragon, and it’s not every day that you meet someone who genuinely wants to be nice here.”

“I think you’ll find pretty quickly that I’m not a nice dragon.”

The SkyWing frowned. “What if I don’t?”

“Then you will eventually,” I snapped. I was torn between being massively irritated and somewhat sorry, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying the biting words on my tongue. “Three moons, don’t you ever listen? Stay away from me, SkyWing. I’m not looking for any more trouble right now, and your naivety reeks of it. I’m not nice, I don’t want to get to know you, and I’m not going to waste my time with you.”

Saxifrage’s eyes flooded with hurt, and I swallowed my guilt.

_There you go, huh? You ruined everything again._   
_Maybe she really was trying to be nice. Maybe she really meant it, but obviously you had to snap at her for it and act like a total jerk._   
_You’re always destroying things before they even have a chance to grow. Congratulations, Citrine, you made her upset and now the only dragon who’s gone out of their way to be nice to you in over a year hates you and won’t ever give you another chance._   
_Whatever. I don’t want anyone around me like that anyway._

A bell started to ring, signaling the end of free rec, and I turned away. I picked up my things and slung them into a satchel over my shoulder. Before I could change my mind about apologizing, I started walking away so that I wouldn’t have to see the disappointment on her face.

“Hey, wait up!” I heard the SkyWing yell, and I couldn’t stop myself from pausing and looking back. She grinned awkwardly at me, stumbling into step at my side. She was almost a full head and a half shorter, and she had to turn her head at an awkward angle to meet my eyes. “Hey, Citrine, you mentioned that your heritage or whatever was a long story. I like long stories. Maybe I’ll see you around and we can talk more at dinner or something? I feel like we got off on the wrong talon.”

_Why would you ever waste your time like that?_

I ignored how I actually felt a little hopeful at the idea.

“Hopefully not,” I said bluntly. I was in Cornice now. So close to becoming a graduate that I couldn’t afford to deal with anything else. I just didn’t have the time to spend on other dragons. I didn’t have the leeway to mess around with new friendships and weigh down other dragons with my problems.

_Iceblink had to die. There wasn’t enough of me left to do anything else. She’d taken away anything good I’d had left._

Saxifrage rolled her eyes, a faint smile on her lips. “Yeah, right. I’ll see you later.”

The white SkyWing vanished into one of the tunnels as the next class began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And Arc II is officially finished! With the addition of Saxifrage and more coming up in the following weeks, it looks like the plot is finally gonna start to thicken :D
> 
> Leave a keyboard smash below if you’ve been reading along, or tell us your predictions for what will happen next. See you next week!


	22. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although the daily grind of routine in the Compound seems the same as ever for Citrine and Sunstone, slowly, the flaws in Leader Iceblink’s design are being unveiled. New faces begin to disrupt the flow of power, secrets beg to be spilled, and a voice from the past begins to widen the crevasse between truth and deception, brick by brick...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays! Here’s a surprise chapter to kick off Arc III :)

~Sunstone~

Pineapple had not come back. I had asked Yucca about it probably too many times, and she had promised me that she’d delivered the RainWing my apology, sounding more passive-aggressive and angry each time. There wasn’t much I could do about it, and I was slowly giving up on making any contact with Pineapple at all.

Lessons with Flurry were becoming way more immersive and fun, though. We’d spent a whole day shelving scholarly scrolls in my library and grabbing new ones that seemed to catch our eyes more. I’d helped him hang up a huge map of Pyrrhia that covered a whole wall, and now he’d commissioned for more blank scrolls to write on. Soon, we’d be able to get into the real meat of our learning, and I was really looking forward to it. It was such a shame that Flurry wouldn’t let me tell Iceblink about any of it.

I was too distracted to worry about any of that right now, though.

A statue glared disdainfully into my eyes, battle stance radiating regality. Its limbs were wrought with coiled muscle, its lack of emotion portrayed beautifully through its features. The glow of the late sunset refracted off its well-polished white marble scales, the elegant detail becoming visible in the soft light. Tiny shards of blue crystal lay in the statue’s eye sockets, and I couldn’t help but feel like the statue was almost sentient.

Several sapphire-colored irises grew at the statue’s feet, and a small grapevine was creeping up one of the forearms. The whole thing shone in the spring moonlight. Although the expression didn’t match, I knew exactly who it was supposed to be.

Iceblink.

_So this is the work of a master._

“This is amazing!” I gasped, gaping at the statue.

“Isn’t it?” Iceblink beamed. “I did put a lot of work into this.” 

I continued to stare, too blinded by the wonder of the stone carving before me to even pay a glance to the hundreds of smaller statues it was surrounded by. We were standing inside the glorious collection of Iceblink’s statues that she called the Petrified Garden. Iceblink said that the name was inspired by her father, but she gave no more explanation, even when I’d asked.

Here, the statues were on display for all the Firn dragons to see - not just their creator. I often came here when I was immensely bored or during an art block, trying to find inspiration from all of the carvings around me. But this was the first time that I’d walked through them, up close and personal.

The Petrified Garden was a vast cave inside the peak of the mountain, skylights carved into its ceiling illuminating the scenery below, the moons shining through them and softly caressing the statues beneath the darkened sky with their light. Among the hundreds of statues were several flowerbeds, and deep emerald-green vines wrapped themselves around the bases of statues, occasionally creeping up the neck or wings of one of the many stone figures.

The oldest statues were in the middle, and the newest at the very edges of the cavern. The glorious behemoth I beheld in front of me was at the very center, probably the first statue that had ever been made in the Compound, small alpine forget-me-nots just peeking out from under its wings.

The eldest of the garden had collected moss and lichen on their brittle surfaces, and cracks had begun to form in their surfaces. They had an eerie quality to them, and as I had walked past the center of the Petrified Garden, it had almost felt as if their empty gazes were following us, silently watching our every move. But the statue of Iceblink looked as good as new, and I could tell that Iceblink had been taking diligent care of it for all the years that she’d had it.

I longed to brush my claws across its surface and experience the feel of the smooth stone beneath my talons, but felt that even the faintest of touches might ruin the finish.

“H-how long did this take you?” I asked, astounded, still faced away from her. I felt rude neglecting to look at Iceblink while I spoke, but the eerie, moon-colored sculpture was too captivating to even attempt to look away.

“Oh...” Iceblink hummed for a moment, trying to figure out when she’d started and ended the masterpiece. “I’d say about a year? And a half?”

“Wow!” I felt suddenly lightheaded.

_Over a year?! That’s amazing! I’ve never spent more than a month on my sculptures. How did she have the patience to continue such a piece?_

I turned my head back to face her, still shocked. She chuckled at my surprise.

“I took breaks, of course, but it still took tremendous amounts of time and effort to accomplish. One day, you too will gather up enough effort to create something grand,” she said, rubbing my head proudly. “You’re my Heir, after all.”

I stared up at her, my shocked expression washed away by a wave of excitement. I stepped forward and hugged her, looking back up with a bright smile. She returned my smile with her own wild grin, and I could see that bright twinkle in her eyes as she pulled me closer. Something about the light of the moons dappling over us was liquid and ethereal, like dreams were coming true all around me. Or like the beginnings of a wish was finally becoming true, as if the star I’d cast it on had just touched the earth.

_Just like...that first night._

While Citrine had laid comatose in the back of our old cave, snout still wrinkled with the worry lines he’d already acquired at the ripe old age of five, Iceblink had dressed my wounds, wings wrapped around me with a promise that everything would turn out alright. Her smile had been just as beautiful in the moonlight then as it was tonight.

_“It will be okay.”_

And how could it not, when I was with her? That promise she had spoken to me, assuring that everything would come together in the end - that my echo of a life with Citrine would come to a close with Iceblink’s entry, and we would all have the perfect ending to our story, living together as one big happy family.

But just as I’d thought we’d escaped from the confusion of our past, it lunged back from the darkness, plunging me back into its chaos and tearing Citrine away with it. All I could do to ease the pain was to try and forget my older brother had ever existed. I’d thought the heavy weight of grief would slowly disappear through the past years, but apparently loss didn’t work the way I had imagined. Even if I became less fragile at the thought of him, the weight only got heavier, and I wondered when I would be able to let go. I had erased Citrine from the forefront of my mind in an effort to escape him, shoving the very thought of his name to the bottom of it.

And it had worked, but now the tug of grief was pulling me back to its monochrome wings, its force inescapable. An invisible weight drooped over my shoulders like a cloak of darkness, and I hugged Iceblink tighter, smile dissipating. At least she was here. She was my rock, my sun, the center of my universe - and my mother, no matter how disappointed Citrine would be to hear those words. How far gone would I be by now without Iceblink?

_I miss Citrine._  
_I miss him so, so much._

“Sunstone?”

I pulled away from Iceblink, trying to blink away the dampness in the corners of my eyes. “Yeah?”

“Is something the matter? You’re awfully quiet. It’s unlike you.” A look of concern stole away her smile.

I shook my head, tears disappearing as I gazed at her. The loss of Citrine had been something that would stay with me forever, but I could move on. I had to move on, and let go of the past. If I was going to be the Leader one day, I didn’t have a choice.

And I still had Iceblink. I always had Iceblink, who had stayed by my side while I grieved in those first weeks. Iceblink, who made sure I wasn’t going hungry, checked to see if I was healthy, brought me back from my sorrow, and loved me like the mother I never knew. That in itself was more than I could ever ask for, and as long as I had her, I wouldn’t need anything else. Nothing had to change. The future laid out before me was already far brighter than I deserved. 

“No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” I smiled reassuringly, and Iceblink wrapped her wing around me again. She walked over to the exit tunnel, where everything was shrouded in darkness, and whispered in my ear.

“Sunstone, I don’t ever want to see you hurt. I want you to tell me if you ever feel uncomfortable, or if you need anything at all. Don’t hesitate for those things.” She paused, turning back to face me through the darkness. ”You know I think of you as my son, Sunstone. Don’t ever forget that.”

_And I think of you as a mother._

My throat grew tight.

“I know,” I rasped hoarsely. Iceblink pulled me in for another hug, and she walked me to my rooms, humming a gentle lullaby with her left wing draped over me protectively. My door creaked open, and I walked into my shadowed chambers, turning to face Iceblink for the last time that night. 

“Goodnight.” I yawned sleepily, and Iceblink patted my head, smiling. Her cool wing left my shoulder, and the warm night air brushed against us.

“Goodnight to you too, Sunstone. I’ll see you in the morning.” The door closed softly, covering me in complete darkness, and I curled onto my bed, falling into a peaceful sleep almost instantly.

**. . .**

My eyes flew open, and my shallow breathing filled the room. My heart was pounding against my ribcage, and my gaze jumped around the blackened room. Nightmares had woken me abruptly, and I doubted I would sleep again that night after the dreams I’d awoken from. Apparently, I had been more unsettled than I had thought, especially after my reawakened memories of Citrine.

_Don’t think about him. He’s gone. He’s not part of your life anymore, and you need to get that through your thick skull._  
_He’s gone._  
_Forever, okay?_

I sat up, joints creaking, and glanced towards the dark opening that was the window. Climbing to the edge of the bed, I stood up and leaned out into the freezing night air. Judging from the moons’ positions, it had only been a couple of hours since Iceblink and I had returned from the Petrified Garden.

I backed into my rooms once again, staring forlornly at the pile of downy furs that was my bed. Although the tired tug on my eyes was evident, laying my head down to rest wasn’t an option for tonight. Irrational fears of sleep and nightmares began to plague my thoughts, and I stood before a mirror on the wall, wondering how to pass the time until sunrise. The black window loomed behind me, and in the darkness, my shadow was nothing but a hulking monster. 

Shivering, I turned away, wrapping my wings around myself and rubbing my arms up and down each other. My heart started to pound against my chest again, and I screwed my eyes shut as the formless shadows in the corners of the room seemed to take shape.

_Calm down. The shadows are shadows. They’re warm and dark and comforting, and make sleep easy. The moons are out tonight, and they provide just enough light so that the nightmares will be chased away._  
_All of it was just a dream, and Iceblink and I will laugh and make jokes about it at breakfast. Her smile will be as wide as the sky, and I shall go to class with Flurry as normal. Then, in the evening, after all my lessons, Iceblink and I will eat roasted elk with gravy and we will go to bed again, resting in peace aside the comforting shadows._  
_Calm down._

My breathing slowed, and I sighed, looking towards the window. My room was more peaceful and inviting than not, and I surrendered into the soft comfort of my furs, weary. After all, if I decided to forego sleep, I would never be able to focus at Flurry’s lessons.

He’d probably whine about it for an hour in his senile elderly-dragon speak and then give me homework. So I had to sleep.

I buried my head in a pillow, closing my eyes. I pulled the blankets closer, ignoring the nagging feeling of fear creeping up my spine.

_ **THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD.** _

My eyes flew open again, and I nearly threw myself upright.

_What was that noise?! Where did it come from?!_

“Is anyone there?” My voice quavered, and I winced, sure that whatever had made the loud noise was coming to end me. Fears of menacing trainees and sharp-grinned assassins crowded my thoughts, coloring them red, and I felt my heart pattering inside my ribcage.

A foreboding silence responded, and my heartbeat roared in my ears. I wrapped the blankets around me tighter, swiveling my head every which way, searching for the source of the ominous racket.

_ **THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD.** _

I jumped again. The thudding was rhythmic, increasing in volume before falling to silence. Like a heartbeat, or...

_Footsteps? Maybe someone’s outside…_  
_Oh no._

I headed to the glass double doors, opening them tentatively. My eyelids fluttered against the bright light of the moons, but there was nothing there besides the ominous quiet of the outside Compound. I knew the culprit couldn’t have gone far, so I continued my search through the room, closing the doors behind me silently. I tiptoed towards the library semi-quietly, clearly not built for stealth, peeking through the archway only to see the piles of scrolls glinting down at me from tall shelves.

It was evident that the only enemy I would find here would be the math scrolls I had received and shelved from Flurry, but there was obviously no way that trigonometry could make a noise that loud unless it was me screaming in agony about it.

I gazed at the elegant wooden door beside my bed, not wanting to find out what lay in the pitch-black hallways beyond but knowing I would have to if I were to find the miscreant. Quietly, I lit a candle and opened the wooden door, cringing at the faint creaking noise it made. Waving around the small spark of light, what was visible of the hallway was completely devoid of life. Shutting the door, I pressed my back to the wall, heaving a sigh of relief.

_So there’s nothing trying to get in. That’s good._  
_…Does that mean that whatever made the noises is already inside?_

My relief immediately died, squashed by my last thought.

_ **THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD.** _

_What did I do to deserve this?! Three moons!_

Whatever had decided to torment me with the dark noises was not outside of my rooms, and showing themselves to me was obviously not their intention.

So, embarrassingly, I hid myself under my pile of furs, curling into a frightened ball. I clutched at the fabrics, trying to slow my breathing. I didn’t have any idea how to deal with the noise, not to mention that I had zero clues to tell me what was creating it in the first place.

_Construction project? No, why would they be doing work in the middle of the night?_  
_Someone in a midnight rage throwing furniture everywhere and waking everyone up? Maybe I should ask Iceblink about it later._  
_A trainee from below, arriving to kill me with a club and cudgel?_  
_Or am I just going crazy?_

I waited for the noise to return. The silence of the night seemed louder than ever, and I was sure that everyone in the Compound would be able to hear my heartbeat. But the menacing racket never returned that night, and I had forgotten about the noises completely by the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mystery detective thriller, how festive


	23. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Content Warning: strangulation.**

~Citrine~

Laughter and gossip echoed around me, the stone walls reverberating with the hundreds of inaudible words flooding through the tunnel, surrounding my frozen body. The voices suffocated my thoughts as I stood, watching the commotion as I waited in the dark of the hallway. Trainees rushed past me like a fast-flowing stream, the click of their talons on the stone floor rivaling that of their frenzied speech.

Elemental Combat had just finished, and everyone was eager to get away from the mind-numbing practices and eat lunch. The Elemental Combat Training Rooms were filled with several interesting things we had yet to use, but for now, we were stuck with insipid target practice and reviewing concepts from our previous ranks.

Everyone had received a stone-carved target with given instructions leaving no room for leeway. Using whatever ability particular to your tribe, the expectation was for you to aim for a random marked area on the target, varying distances throughout the practice. 

There were exceptions to these rules - SeaWings and MudWings, who were either too cold to produce any sort of flame, or just couldn’t breathe any sort of substance altogether. For them, they were given flaming arrows and told to shoot for the centers of the targets. There had been many yelps of surprise as rogue sparks had scorched clumsy snouts and talons.

The river flowing through the training rooms widened in the elemental combat rooms, and would eventually be used for training in water and underwater combat. Due to a MudWing’s and SeaWing’s special abilities, they would most likely receive a far more thorough course on it than the other dragons. 

Flames and lava smoked and bubbled in deep trenches in one corner of the room, most likely used as obstacle courses. Several other areas had been designated around the area for different aspects of our training, but I hadn’t been interested once I began to get the gist of Elemental Combat. Hit the target, clean your target, rinse, and repeat.

I began to move through the dark tunnel, letting the flow of trainees around me carry me to my destination. A jumble of wings and tails spilled out into the blinding light of the mess hall, and I blinked, letting my eyes adjust.

Everyone immediately ran off to their own groups, huddling with their friends and exchanging gossip. The most notable was Puffin’s group at the far end of the mess hall, closest to the lake. They were a huddle of speed and strength and muscle, and all the other dragons stayed away from them.

Puffin made eye contact with me for half a second before turning away, not saying anything, and I walked into the lunch line. I grabbed a tray from a heavyset MudWing after a few hungry minutes, wrinkling my snout slightly at the food. Rabbit meat marinated in wild garlic that smelled at least a few too many days old.

I plunked down at an empty table near the edge of the mess hall, shoving a portion of the meat into my mouth while trying not to gag at the taste and stench. Glaring down at the meal, a flash of white caught in the corner of my eye. I turned to find the albino SkyWing I’d almost helped a day ago sitting next to me, setting her tray down with a confident grin.

_Saxifrage._

After glancing down at her food, she grimaced and pushed the tray away suddenly, turning to face me. “Hey. How are you? I looked for you at dinner yesterday but I didn’t see you.”

I smothered my guilt from ghosting her and leaned away. “You’ll want to find another table, SkyWing.”

She blinked at me and snorted, smiling. “No thanks,” she giggled. “Look at all the room here!” She sprawled her long wings over the length of the table, knocking my plate away from me. “And my name’s Saxifrage, you know. Sorry for wanting to be friendly with you, I guess?”

I glared at her, feeling distinctly stupid and terrible for no particular reason, and turned back to my meat to swallow another morsel.

“Are you actually going to eat that?” Saxifrage appeared mildly disgusted, her red eyes darkening with revulsion.

“I’d rather not train on an empty stomach.”

“Oh, you’re one of _those,”_ Saxifrage exclaimed. “Obsessed with being perfect in training? Leader Iceblink’s favorite little minion who’d do anything for her cause? I bet being the best trainee isn’t as important as you think it is. You could probably afford to let yourself relax.”

I growled, fed up.

_I don’t need to be the best. I just need to graduate as soon as possible so that I can kill Iceblink. Doing it any sooner is too risky. I could still get caught, and I only have one chance._  
_I’m not even close to ‘one of those’._

“Do you want to get yourself killed? Saying things like that out loud is punishable by death. The Sacred Five? No propaganda? Maybe I should report you to Training Room Master Caribou or second-in-command Flurry or Trainee Master Aurora. Or even to Leader Iceblink herself. Then we’ll find out just how important it is to be the best.”

“Somehow, I don’t think you’re the type to do that. You don’t seem like someone who does things without a personal reason, and you wouldn’t have anything to gain from reporting me.” Saxifrage sighed, poking at her meal once again. “Anyway, Leader Iceblink hasn’t ever told us the real details of why we’re here, serving her. Supposedly the official statement is that we’re going to take down the NightWings one day as comeuppance for the Ice Plague, but I don’t know if I believe that. Plus, I’m no IceWing and there’s nothing in it for me. There are just better things out there than this place. There are better things than pledging loyalty to a thief and a murderer.” Her ruby eyes bored into mine, fire behind them, and I couldn’t help but notice that the look on her face was a little too similar to one I’d always tried to hide on my own.

_I wouldn’t pledge loyalty to Iceblink if the cost was my life._  
_But I can’t tell you that. I don’t think you’d report me either, but I’m not taking chances._

Saxifrage smiled hopefully, and I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. She spoke again, tone light. “I totally get feeling spied on and hated by all your superiors, but Leader Iceblink doesn’t watch as much as you think, you know. Maybe you should cut yourself a break - it kind of seems like you need it. Like I said, you strike me as someone good.”

I snorted. The SkyWing was running her mouth for nothing, trying to turn me against everything I had worked to achieve in the Compound. All my years of silence and effort and quiet suffering inside my head to climb up the ranks couldn’t possibly be undone by one naive dragoness.

And yet, I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to leave.

_I’m not good._  
_I’m selfish, and angry, and peace is the last thing I could want, but I’m not Iceblink. The last thing I can afford is a break._

She was staring at me intently, and I set my jaw. “What do you want?”

“I want to be your friend. Because it’s been so long since I’ve seen a dragon do something nice out of pure goodness. Well, want to do something nice, at least. And that dragon just happens to be you.” Her pale face was completely serious, and her red eyes smoldered like stars. “You’ve insisted that you’re not a good dragon. Well, I’m not either. I’m selfish and clingy and naïve, and I’m incompetent in more things than I’m decent at. Maybe it’s because of how selfish I am that I’m so insistent about this, but I don’t want to be alone and I don’t think you do either. I, uh - I don’t really have many friends.”

_Well, you’re certainly spot-on about all of that._  
_If only Iceblink wouldn’t use you as leverage if we became friends. If only I was brave enough to let myself be a bit nicer._

I watched Saxifrage’s ruby eyes for a moment before hissing in a whisper. “Listen, SkyWing. I don’t know why you’re assuming that I’m just Leader Iceblink’s cookie-cutter grunt, but I’m not. I have real plans, and I have real goals, and you are only getting in the way. You don’t want to be involved with me.”

She tilted her head. “But I do. I don’t understand how one friendship can hurt. I just want to help you, and have someone to talk to who actually likes being around me, and…”

Saxifrage trailed off when she saw my expression. 

“You do not want to help me,” I growled.

_You don’t want to help me kill someone. You don’t want anything I could give you._

“I’m the wrong dragon for all of the things you just listed. I can’t be what you want me to be, and I don’t have the time to bother trying. I meant it when I said my motives aren’t something you should get yourself mixed into, and about what you said before - you know that Iceblink watches her trainees more closely than anything. Getting revenge on the NightWings? Nice idea, but I’ll bet it’s something far more personal and sinister, and you’re a moons-forsaken fool for saying stuff like that out loud in broad daylight. So what’s your reason for trying to get close to me?”

Saxifrage scowled, folding her wings defensively. “Why do I need a reason? All I ever asked was for you to consider being my friend! Pretentious and self-obsessed much? Three moons, you’re so insufferably uptight and determined to isolate yourself.”

_And there it is. She won’t bother you anymore after you pushed her away for the millionth time. You complete jerk, Citrine._  
_Even if you’d let her carry on with her friendship shenanigans, she would’ve left in the end anyway. Just like Puffin._  
_So it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter._  
_Right?_

I got up from the table, curling my talons around the edges of my unfinished food. Saxifrage’s eyes quickly averted from me, and I felt a spike of shame.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled next. The phrase nearly made me trip over my own barbed tail, and I whirled back to face her.

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” Saxifrage said clearer. “That was rude. I shouldn’t have said that.”

I shook my head and dumped my tray in a wastebasket, forcing myself to walk away from the table and leave Saxifrage behind. How stupid was she?

_Oh, SkyWing..._  
_I hope you live like this forever; naïve and innocent, unaware of all the bad that dragons can be in this world._

**. . .**

It was only a few minutes to curfew, and I was on my way to get back to my dorm. I’d successfully evaded Saxifrage for the rest of the day - we didn’t share any classes because of the rank difference - but I wasn’t taking any chances of meeting her again. So I took a slightly different route to the Cornice dorms, attempting to fly up and climb in through a window and ignoring every voice in my brain that told me I was just being a paranoid ninny.

_I can’t be seen with Saxifrage again. How many dragons saw her with me? How many big-mouthed, very imaginative lizards watched us?_  
_Iceblink always hears, and Iceblink always replies._  
_In the most gruesome way possible, too._

Just below the stone window ledge, I paused, hearing voices. Apparently some dragons had gathered for a conversation, evading the graduates that worked as night guards and deciding to stay up. This sort of event wasn’t too uncommon, and the words they spoke were generally of no real meaning of value.

Usually whoever gathered here chatted about the nauseating food in the mess hall, or the dragons they crushed on but would never confess to thanks to Leader Iceblink’s ban on romantic relationships, or plotted plans of revenge against bullies they’d never actually carry out. If that had been the case tonight, I would have breezed past, not caring what they thought of me. But I heard my name spoken among the throng of dragons, and paused, narrowing my eyes and gripping the grey stone beneath the windowsill to support myself. It couldn’t be good if they were gossiping about me. And there was no way to get past them to my dorms without alerting them. My room’s window was far too small to climb through.

I sighed, dreading the upcoming encounter, and squared my shoulders. Climbing in through the window like I had every right to be there, I immediately headed for the tunnel leading to my dorms, wanting to avoid the inevitable. Stares followed me, and the quiet chatter dissipated.

A bulky SandWing stepped in my path. “Where do you think you’re going?” Jackal’s face glowered down at me, and I returned his stare cooly even as my gut plunged. Fractals of memories from fighting him in the sand pit splintered between my thoughts, and I fought to squish them before they became overwhelming.

“To my dorm, of course. Where else?”

A familiar laugh sounded behind me, and I turned my head back slightly to find several dragons. Pneumonia was glaring at me, Pneumococcal at her side lounging on a tattered couch. A pale gray male IceWing and a cherry-red female SkyWing stood to the twin’s sides, and the source of the laughter was Puffin, in front of them all.

_Well, three moons._  
_I’m stuck in the Cornice Commons with Puffin’s gang._

Puffin stopped his fake laughter, staring at me intently. “Wolf and Chrysanthemum, what do you think? Where else?”

The red SkyWing, undoubtedly Chrysanthemum, rolled her eyes. “Puffin, just drop it. No matter what he did to Hyena, you know how I feel about joking about that kind of stuff in the Compound.”

Puffin scowled at her for a moment before turning away. “Wolf?” He grinned at the pale-gray IceWing. “Do you know? Us two are clearly stumped.”

Wolf grinned at me, pale violet eyes alight with menace. “Ha, I don’t know...maybe he’s not lying. Maybe he is going back to his dorm, trying to cover up his tracks like the lying _cheater_ he is.” He stroked Chrysanthemum’s head, gazing at her and ignoring the smoldering glare he got as a reply. “Poor, poor Chrysanthemum. How do you think she’ll react when she finds out what you’ve done?”

The two IceWing twins giggled, but Chrysanthmum’s eyes went dark, and she growled at Wolf. “What is _wrong_ with you? I’d never…” She cut herself off with a huff. “The fact that you’d dare to imply that sort of thing...I will crush you with the moons, you lupine excuse for a trainee.”

I glared at them all, too tired and fed up to even bother trying to figure out what they meant. “I have no clue what the whole lot of you are even talking about. I’m tired and I’m going to my dorm to get some sleep.” Pneumonia sighed, exasperated, and Pneumococcal echoed her. I snarled at Jackal. “Get out of the way. Learn from your sister that this isn’t a good idea.”

_I really need to get back to my dorm._  
_I’m totally outnumbered - if they decide to jump me, I’m as good as dead._

Jackal turned to stone, eyes glinting, and I knew I’d said the wrong thing. He stared over my shoulder at Puffin. “By the way,” he spoke slowly. The tone of his voice made my stomach curdle. “What did you say Citrine was doing earlier? I...forgot.”

_I don’t even want to know; I just don’t want to deal with this tonight._

Puffin’s smile split his pale-blue face, and he began to speak, rooting me to the spot with his words. “Oh, you know...just the idea that Citrine decided to have a little _fun_ with his disgusting SkyWing girlfriend before curfew. Not that our noble, law-abiding Citrine would stoop so low as to do such dirty things with that pathetic Sastrugi wh-”

Chrysanthemum snarled. “Shut your mouth, Puffin. Citrine’s _disgusting SkyWing girlfriend_ is my-”

“Come on, Chrysanthemum,” Puffin said. “Stop pretending like you even care about her anymore, after what she did to you and your mother. You didn’t forget, did you? I know it’s been a few years.”

Chrysanthemum’s face twisted, and she turned away. “Forget it. I’m just - I’m going now.” She left through the dorm tunnel to Cornice, and I heard the door to her room slam.

_They’re talking about Saxifrage._  
_Did Saxifrage really do something to Chrysanthemum, or is it just rumors?_  
_What was Chrysanthemum going to say? How are they connected?_  
_Oh, it doesn’t matter, I just need to get out of this situation._

I growled, even more outraged when the dragons around me just snickered loudly. “Why do you treat us like an item? We’ve talked twice at the most, and neither occasion was enjoyable. Saxifrage is just a nuisance.”

Pneumonia’s eyes widened, and a daring smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “You didn’t exactly deny it, though,” she crooned. “What will Leader Iceblink do if she finds out?”

_Three moons. We’re not even friends and dragons are already trying to tear us both down._  
_I’m out of here._

I hissed and shoved at Jackal. He stumbled back in surprise, and I charged for the dorm tunnel. A heavy claw crushed the end of my tail as I leapt away, and I winced silently as I stumbled to a halt, not daring to turn around to face them. “Don’t go, Citrine,” hissed Puffin. “Why’d you assume we were done with you already? The fun’s only just begun.”

“When will you give up, Puffin?” I bit out, pulling at my tail in vain. “You know I have nothing left to say to you. You ended anything we had the moment you left me to fend for myself. I don’t care what your reasons were or what happened that day; you’re not going to take more from me.”

“That has nothing to do with this, and you know it, Citrine.” Cold breath touched the back of my neck. “This isn’t about you. Don’t be selfish. Hyena wasn’t just Jackal’s sister. She was our friend. Maybe she deserved what she got - after all, she was stubborn as a moose and twice as angry, but she lived with us. She trained with us and fought with us, and we thought she would die with us too.”

I growled. “You know that we were the same, Puffin. I’m starting to think that maybe you’re just a pretentious brat with narcissism issues that likes to pick and choose who he hangs out with. What really made you throw me away?”

Warm claws snaked around my neck, and I stiffened. I turned back to find Jackal holding me, Puffin watching from a ways away with an almost sorrowful expression. “I already told you that this has nothing to do with us. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this, Citrine,” he said. “But you realize how easy you have it, don’t you? If you want success, you can get it. If you want to master a new move in training, you can do it. You don’t have to spend all of your life training and trying to avoid Leader Iceblink’s little traps all over the place like all the others do. You’re lucky enough to be invisible to most of us. I had to work so hard just to get here. So hard just to shrug off all the assumptions dragons made by thinking I would end up as a crippled mess like my mother.” 

Puffin continued with a scowl. “But I’m better than her. I am going to use all of the blood, sweat, and tears that I have to claw my way up to the top, every drop, and then? No one will ever think less of me again, and my father will finally realize that I was in the right for not letting go of the dragon he claimed to love. I’ve worked hard to support my family, and you’re only getting in the way of that goal when all you do is work for yourself, Citrine. It’s not personal anymore. I’m sorry if you still think that, but I really don’t hate you. I’m just trying to protect the dragons I care about, and that includes you by pushing you away. But then you got Hyena killed. Maybe I would have thought differently before, but now, I wouldn’t stop Jackal if he decided to murder you. Hyena’s death was just the straw that broke the snake’s back.”

Jackal’s claws tightened around my throat, and I felt myself start to suffocate. I struggled, trying to pull myself away from his grip, but Puffin crushed my lashing tail to the floor with his talons and Wolf pulled my arms over my head, away from my neck. My face felt hot and my vision started to blur. Dark patches were forming in the corners of my eyes, and my muscles were starting to give out.

_Am I really going to die like this?_  
_I can’t even fight back._  
_Who cares? I deserve it._

“Sorry, Citrine,” Puffin monotoned. “This is just in everyone’s best interest.”

I could feel the blood in my face, boiling hotter, hotter, until I saw stars and dark voids in my vision. Dry air coated my mouth but refused to travel past my tongue, and I could still feel my cheeks turning redder, redder-

The doors to the common rooms slammed open, and all heads turned to find a glowering MudWing standing at the edge of the stairwell - one of the graduate night guards, visibly annoyed that he would actually have to do something tonight. Jackal, Puffin, and Wolf all immediately released me, and I rolled onto my side, coughing and gasping. Blood rushed back from my head, and I felt my skin tingling with a million imaginary pins. I knew I’d have bruises on my neck later, but for now, there was sweet air in my lungs, more sugary than the most decadent dessert in Firn, and I would be content to do nothing more in life but to breathe, and breathe, and breathe...

And then the fear and reality of the situation I was in slammed back into me with the force of an avalanche, and I gagged, bile and the remnants of my dinner spilling onto the floor. The MudWing guard stared at me, completely disinterested. Pneumonia smiled sweetly at him, eyes wide as the moons. “Um, h-hey...darling...?” She batted her eyes at the brute force standing before her. The dragon had to be at least five heads taller than her, and her shaking wings made her fear obvious.

_What an idiot. You use your claws to get out of a fight, not your flapping mouth._

The MudWing roared at us, furious, and swung a spear in an arc through the room. Wolf casually stepped back from the swinging edge. Sparks flew from the guard’s mouth in a failed attempt to breathe fire, but no one dared to laugh. Even if the cold climate of the Rift deprived the MudWing of his fire-breathing abilities, only an idiot would try to take him on.

“GO BACK TO YOUR ROOMS! YOU’RE WAKING EVERYONE UP WITH ALL YOUR JABBERING! THREE MOONS, WHAT DO YOU THINK CURFEW IS EVEN FOR?! ROOMS. _NOW.”_ The guard ended his speech with another thundering roar, and slammed the head of the spear into the floor, tiny cracks in the stone appearing. No one mentioned the fact that he’d probably woken everyone up in the Compound with his hollering. I nearly chuckled at the thought, still heady and disoriented from Jackal’s claws around my neck.

Pneumonia glared at the guard before tossing her head and walking primly towards her room, dragging Pneumococcal behind her. The MudWing continued to snarl, and the others dispersed. Wolf stalked into the dark hallways, dissolving in the darkness. Jackal had seemingly disappeared the moment the guard had arrived.

The night guard glanced between me and Puffin, studying the expressions on our faces. “Go to sleep. I don’t want to know what you all were doing up here in the middle of the night, but it’s better to sleep than to argue. If I find you up here again, you’re not getting off the hook so easily.” He shook the spear in our faces before walking back down the stairs, leaving us alone.

I looked at Puffin for a long moment, taking a few more careful breaths. My lungs still felt fragile, and air rasped in my throat. “Anything you’d rather say now that it’s just us?”

Puffin turned away towards the stairs that went downward, to the Sastrugi dorms. “I meant every word earlier. One day I’ll get what I deserve. Lie low and stay out of the way, Citrine, or you _will_ pay. We will _never_ be friends.”

I ignored how grief stabbed at my heart as he walked away from me for the final time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Content Warning Summary: As Citrine sneaks back into his dorm, he runs into Puffin and his friends, who gang up on him and attack him. Jackal tries to strangle Citrine, but fails when a night guard catches the group and ends the confrontation.**


	24. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.2.5 ~ I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! :3

~XXXXXXX~

_Many years ago…_

Dreams of painted glass eyes and toy statues come to life chased me through my sleep as I wandered the abandoned palace, ice and white marble floors stained with smears of blue. I could smell it in the air - oppressive, sour, yet sterile - the odor of sickness hanging heavy in the freezing atmosphere, coated by the tang of medicine. And yet, beneath it, I could smell the faintest traces of boiling soup and seasoned fish and roasted venison with sweet bread rolls, so my stomach led me through the nightmare palace as half-formed chimeras and dying dragons with eyes the color of IceWing blood crawled after me from the hospital wing.

I was still trapped between reality and the quiet hypnosis of sleep when talons jostled my shoulder hard enough to make the nightmare palace collapse and my eyelids fly open. I groaned, if only because I knew I’d never find the food I’d smelled in my dream anywhere in my waking world, and I rose up into a sitting position. I could feel all the sore spots on my sides from where the thin, patchy pelts I slept on did nothing to ease the unforgiving floor of frozen dirt beneath.

“You didn’t have to wake me up,” I mumbled. I didn’t even need to look out the single round window in our round, one-room house to see that the sun had barely cleared the horizon. The walls made of carved ice and packed snow, and the splintery door made of hastily tied driftwood did little to keep the chill of winter away, but we were IceWings, so the cold was more welcome than anything else.

Wintergreen - my mother, who had shaken me so violently awake - only shot me a telling look. “I’ll let you sleep in as a hatching day present; you turn ten in a week anyway. Your father needs a lot of help today at the studio, so be a good daughter and help us, okay? Eat your breakfast. You know how many shell-tokens real meat costs these days.” The IceWing dragoness stepped away and set down a disappointingly light bowl of raw lemming on the gray stone table in the center of the room.

The gray table was the only real furniture in our house, from a time before we’d had to sell everything else just to secure a place in the slums before the mayor had us evicted. My family was dirt poor, every bit of honor stripped from us as we’d fallen from the third circle to the sixth. My father and I had painstakingly carved the ice blocks holding up the flimsy walls of our home all by ourselves, as if the other IceWings couldn’t spare a few stone bricks for one mason to build a house for his wife and only daughter.

Sometimes, when we went into town on the way to the studio, or to exchange our shell-tokens for food - meager life support from the royal coffers, because my parents worked too many hours a day to hunt in daylight - I would take a detour to visit our old house. Two stories, shuttered windows. Even now, on the porch, a statue my father had made when I was a dragonet, slowly collecting lichen and bird droppings. All of the periwinkle-blue paint we’d coated the outer walls of logs in slowly peeling away, erased by time and a new family that cared less about colors.

I would watch that new family whenever I went - a beautiful dragoness who’d run away from her noble position in the City of Ice and the Ice Palace to marry her perfect husband, a fishing merchant who ran several crews of divers and profited off the bay our town bordered. A perfect love story, decorated by the three bumbling dragonets that often played in the yard or inside the house with toys that used to be mine. I didn’t know any of their names. I just marveled at how easily they’d replaced us.

Now, we didn’t even have beds, or meals, half the week. We only slept on the musty-smelling remains of furs from the prey we bought or caught to eat, and the floor was bare, frozen soil. Prey was scarce this far north, and while it was convenient to buy food, it was costly - especially meat, which required a precious amount of shell-tokens.

Wintergreen tapped her talons on the table impatiently, and I finished my third and last mouthful of lemming. “Is there any news? I heard rumors yesterday that someone down south in one of the border villages got sick with a weird illness.”

My mother sighed. “You’d do better not to pay attention to old wives’ gossip. I’ve heard nothing about a new outbreak, but Icefall has taken the NightWing throne. It’s all over the most recent news-scrolls.”

I nearly choked on my glass of water. “W-what? Queen Hollowheart’s animus experiment took the throne? He’s not even royal by IceWing standards anymore - Prince White might be his grandfather, but-”

“It doesn’t matter. He may have IceWing blood, but that abomination will never be one of us. Our tribe’s greatest gift is in his claws now, and all of our leaders can’t help but fear the worst.” Wintergreen’s brow was furrowed. “I would like to hope that Icefall would be amiable towards us, but that never seemed likely after the assassination attempt ordered by Queen Pinniped seven years ago. She had to know it was a suicide mission for those poor mercenaries.”

“But doesn’t Icefall hate the NightWings?” My mind was still reeling. An animus carrying the NightWing crown? We were IceWings. Our days were numbered at best. “To take the throne, didn’t he have to take down Hollowheart too?”

“Yes,” my mother said, “and that might be the only good thing that’s come of the whole situation - although even that’s a mixed bag. We know she was running the NightWing economy into the ground and sending their armies to their deaths on pointless border skirmishes with the SandWings and SkyWings. Their little peninsula of a kingdom is so overpopulated that they say the rivers run brown with sludge and the air itself is poisoned, so they’re desperate to expand territory, but Hollowheart always went the wrong way about it. Which was great for us, but we hear that Icefall resonates strongly with the poor, and he may use that to strengthen the Night Kingdom to a force we’ve never seen before.”

I was terrified, but I couldn’t help but wish that the IceWings had a king or a queen who’d do the same thing for dragons like me.

“Don’t fret, dear,” my mother told me. “Icefall has more important problems than a nobody family from the sixth circle. We’ll be alright, so let’s go to your father’s studio and get some work done. A second-circle noble ordered a huge set of stone toys for his son because Wintertide is coming - oh, and your birthday is the day before all the celebrations this year! I’ll have to let you sleep in for two days, I guess.”

I fiddled with my necklace, listening to the garishly merry sound of the six golden circles clinking together. My annoyance and nervousness continued to brew as my mother and I strode out the door. I still wasn’t sure about the news with Icefall, King Icefall, and fragments of my dream were still stuck between my thoughts. The walk through the slums of fifth and sixth-circle homes to our studio in the middle of the third-circle district’s artisan sect went by in a blur, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of a wooden building cramped between two lavish ones, clearly owned by dragons miles above us in the circles.

It was sparsely decorated with a few wood planks with peeling paint, and sandwiched perfectly between a restaurant with silver-lined eaves and a pawn shop with a door made from glass. The studio had been nicer once, when we’d still had money, but now the logs rotted and warped beneath our feet because there wasn’t any time or fresh wood to replace them.

_All stuffed right between the homes of dragons with too much money to even worry about saving it, because no self-respecting IceWing would venture into the slums for a dainty little carving._

My father’s workshop looked small and sad compared to the two prosperous businesses on either side, and the pastel purple and yellow paint that I’d covered the building in with my mother all those summers ago was faded and slowly flaking away like frost in the morning.

The summers in the Ice Kingdom were never truly warm, but they were warm enough for tiny wildflowers to bloom and for ice to melt. We’d still had enough money and time for my mother to buy a few buckets of paint and paintbrushes, and we’d spent the entire day painting the studio while my father carved at stone and wood inside. 

I’d been four, old enough to watch and understand as nobles and merchants visited our home with a particular glint in their eye and indecipherable contracts in their briefcases. Old enough to know that a fishing merchant had claimed our home as his own through the holes in old laws, and that we were chased into the arms of loan sharks just to try and stay alive. But it was inevitable that our finances and spirit whittled down to nothing, and we lived every day the same from our little circle of land in the slums.

We’d never had a summer that easy or joyful since. My mother’s once-frequent smiles had slowly disappeared, and my father’s bright and hopeful eyes had dimmed to a defeated blue-gray. Routine was our dearest friend and most hated enemy. We would work forever, but we would never rise above the sixth circle again.

_This kingdom is broken. Broken in a way that no queen or first-circle courtier would ever know how to fix._  
_If only I had a chance to make a change._

My mother pushed open the door to the studio with a small creak. “Conifer? We’re here. We both got up early to help, like I said we would.”

Conifer turned to face us from his desk, carving away at a small clay figurine of an IceWing - one of the toys that the noble had ordered. “Morning! And thank you.” He glanced up, noticing me for the first time, and the wrinkles by his eyes deepened as he smiled. “My beautiful daughter! I’m happy to see you - let me show you how to carve this next one. You’ve always had a knack for sculpting and the three-dimensional.”

I obliged, following his movements and proceeding to carve more of the toy dragons. My mother deftly painted them, and by noon, all of the toys were finished. Conifer sighed, talons shaking from the effort it had taken to complete the task.

Wintergreen nudged me with an elbow, her talons still covered with paint. “Take these to the rack to dry. They’re still damp.”

She gestured towards the back of the studio, and I nodded, picking up the tray of statuettes and walking towards a wide door. I opened it to enter the dim room where we stored our unfinished products, reserved orders, and at the very back, statues and figurines that had never been sold or were too enmeshed with our memories to hand over to anyone else.

The back room wasn’t very organized, and navigating the room was a bit heart-pounding as I weaved between gargoyles and hopped over horned gnomes. I eventually reached the back of the room and gingerly set the items down in an orderly fashion on a huge rack with an iron grate, making sure that they wouldn’t topple off the edges of the tray. After safely removing my talons from the figurines, I turned to leave the room and receive my next task.

But I couldn’t.

As I tried to step forward, there was a sharp pain at the tip of my tail, and I hissed. Tugging again, I immediately regretted my decision as I felt the tendons stretch. I leaned forward, trying to figure out what my tail was caught on, but I couldn’t see clearly in the low light. My best guess was that it was caught between two of the iron meshes in the rack.

Turning around, half blinded by the sudden pain, I yanked at my tail with my claws. Whatever had been holding my tail suddenly released it, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Something wobbled above me, and I glanced up to see the rack swaying.

_Swaying?_

Horrible realization dawned on me as the rack full of freshly-painted figurines tilted towards me ominously, and I desperately shoved at the iron grates in an attempt to right the shelves. But the rack was far too heavy, and the statues were already tumbling from their places and shattering on the ground into millions of tiny little pieces.

_This isn’t happening. Three moons, no, no, NO-_  
_Wintertide always gives us the best orders. The celebrations and gifts are when we’re the richest, and I just - I just - oh, three moons._  
_What have I done?_

The sound of breaking stone filled my ears, and dust filled the air. The rack crushed me, and I shrieked at the feeling of metal pressing into my scales. I heard someone entering the room with a roar of surprise, and the weight of the iron disappeared.

My mother shoved the rack back in place with a strength I didn’t know she possessed. The cast-iron wheels of the rack screeched with protest, and Wintergreen let out an unintelligible scream of fury. Conifer stared at the ground, littered with shards of stone, and a strangled cry escaped from his throat. Almost unconsciously, he began picking up the tiny pieces of his statues, cupping them in his talons and collapsing to his knees, wings drooping to his sides. I felt sick.

I reached for his shaking shoulder. “Father...I-I’m sorry, I just - my tail got caught and the rack...I’m sorry. You don’t have any idea how sorry I am-”

My mother shoved me away from Conifer’s melting figure. “Oh, we know just how sorry you are, you ungrateful wretch. Every day, we toil away from dawn to dusk working for barely enough money to feed us a single bowl of lemming and pay the property tax, and you don’t even notice. You look down on your own parents, sniff at us for trying to feed you. And now this?! Are you trying to actually lower us in the circles? Isn’t being a sixth circle dragon bad enough for you? When will you learn?!”

I glared at her, rage turning my vision to pinpricks. “I’m not a dragonet anymore! No one says I have to stay here and help you out! I could be living in a better circle by now, but I’m sacrificing my entire future just to be with you guys when you got us into this situation! I was trying to help! You asked me to, so I agreed, and-”

“Do you know how much that IceWing noble was going to pay for those worthless toys?! He offered to pay _TRIPLE_ what we asked! _TRIPLE! IT WOULD HAVE FED US FOR A WEEK! AND YOU JUST DESTROYED-”_

Conifer blocked her with a wing. “That’s enough, Wintergreen. It...It was an accident. We still have time. He said he’d come by to pick them up at dusk, anyway. We can still-”

He was cut off by the unmistakable knock at the door, sharp and imperious. We all froze, knowing exactly who the dragon was. The shop was closed so that we’d have time to work without supervising curious customers, and the only dragon scheduled to pick up an order today was that IceWing noble.

_I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I?_

My father paled. “Impossible! He... I swore that he said he’d come at dusk…”

The knock at the door sounded again, slightly more rapid in succession. The dragon was getting impatient.

Wintergreen shot for the door, and Conifer followed suit. I sat alone in the back room, surrounded by broken statues. Slivers of faces and eyes littered the floor, seemingly staring at me with cross expressions that I still saw even with closed eyes.

**. . .**

I could hear my mother and father talking in rapid, hushed tones to the customer. The IceWing noble’s voice was elegant and slightly accented from life in the palace and more wealthy districts of the cities, pitch and volume increasing with anger as he listened to the situation.

My mother’s voice turned soft and pleading, and I could hear Conifer’s panicked breathing. The noble was apparently unamused by whatever words my mother had spoken, as I heard the crackle of frostbreath and the door slam shut seconds after.

The workshop was silent. Neither Wintergreen nor Conifer came to get me, and I didn’t move from my spot in the back room. Burying my face in my talons, wings shaking, I began to weep in silent, ragged sobs.

_How could I be so stupid and clumsy?_  
_My hatching day is in a week. I’m going to be ten. I thought I was past this dragonet-like clumsiness._  
_And worst of all, Mother is right. I spend all day dreaming about how I’d change the Ice Kingdom for the better, but don’t even give a second glance when it comes to my own family. At the same time, I can’t bear to leave them. What will they do without me?_  
_What will I do without them?_  
_Will we be poor forever? Will all of the lower-ranked IceWings live such wretched lives without hope of change?_  
_All this time, the IceWings have been living their lives in a false vision of order and justice. But I’ll make them see reality. I’ll show them how much better our kingdom can be, and I’ll give us real happiness one day. I can be their hero._  
_All I need is a chance._

**. . .**

Mother hadn’t said a word to me the entire flight home from the studio back to our one-room house in the slums, and I hadn’t said anything either. I had given a thousand apologies to my father, but he always brushed them off, telling me just to be more careful next time.

If there was a next time. Knowing my mother, she might never let me set foot in the workshop again for fear of me destroying another customer’s order.

I stared into my bowl, already licked clean of any remaining fat and oil from the tiny lemming portions. Dinner had been silent, but it had provided me time to work up the courage to ask my question.

“What’s going to happen to us?”

My mother sighed, the first sound she’d made in a long time. “Thankfully, the noble decided to let us off the hook. He won’t report what you’ve done to anybody, so our place in the circle rankings won’t change for the worse.” She glared at me. “But don’t expect us to go anywhere above the sixth circle for a very, very long time.”

_We weren’t going anywhere anyway._

Wintergreen’s eyes softened a bit, and I glimpsed fractals of who she used to be behind them. “I’m sorry for yelling earlier. But no more mistakes, okay? You know how the royals send seventh-circle dragons off to mandatory military service in enemy territory. You’ve seen the survivors. I don’t want you to become like them.”

_I have a nightmare, Icefall takes the NightWing throne, and I destroy an entire commission and ruin everyone’s day - what’s next?_  
_But she’s right. Anything I do against the upper circles will be used, in turn, against me. Still... I have to change this world. I have to make sure that no one else gets their lives stolen away from them like I did. Even if I get sent to the front lines, even if Icefall destroys us all in the end just because we’re IceWings._  
_Because someone needs to care. Someone needs to be the hero. And who else will? The royals have done nothing._  
_If they’d choose to bathe in rivers of gold siphoned from the blood and work of the poor they’ve done so little to protect, then I’ll drown them all._

I sighed, suddenly exhausted. Every muscle was sore, and my eyelids felt like they weighed as much as a small carving of my father’s. Glancing towards our window, I watched the reds and golds of the sunset start to fade to black. 

“Well, the situation...isn’t the worst,” I offered. My mother sniffed contemptuously. Standing up, I made a move towards my bed of fur scraps, pausing slightly. I glanced at my parents. “Did you feel that?”

I could’ve sworn I felt a strange..._ripple_ in the air, through my wings and bones and something deeper, in my heart. My parents blinked at me, and I wondered if my brain had gone addled from being too sleep-deprived.

“...No,” Conifer replied, staring blankly. “What did you f-”

At that same moment, the ground shook so violently that our table tipped over and chips from the blocks of ice holding up the roof began to rain down. Our makeshift door trembled so fiercely that the twine holding it together came apart, and the sound of clattering dishware rattled underneath the startled cries of my parents. For a second, I felt like the entire house would cave in on us, but the walls managed to hold.

In the midst of the shaking, my mother lost her balance, hitting her head on the table and falling to the ground. A dark blue stain ran from her forehead, and my father leapt to shield her from any more debris, but I didn’t dare move, digging my talons deeply into the frozen earth with my eyes wide in terror.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the world finally stilled, save for the occasional aftershocks rumbling through the earth. Everything became deafeningly quiet, but the thundering of my heart in my chest was probably enough to create another earthquake all on its own.

Without another thought, I ran out of my shaken house, chest heaving. Other IceWings hadn’t been so lucky. Many of the houses in the slums had fallen to pieces, and several dragons were screaming as others tried to lift beams of wood or blocks of stone that were crushed into their bodies.

_An earthquake._  
_I didn’t know that they could happen this far north, but what else could it be?_

I stepped back, but flinched as my foot landed on a piece of the driftwood door. Sucking in my breath and forcing myself not to scream, I whimpered as I lifted my foot away. The edges had separated into a cluster of splinters. The corners, already fragile, had fallen and snapped on the chunks of remaining ice. I absentmindedly swept the remaining debris to the side of the house, acutely aware of my throbbing foot when I heard a noise behind me.

My father had followed me out of the house with Wintergreen in his arms, totally unconscious. I stared at him, not sure what to say. Rubble was everywhere. I heard the groan of pine trees falling in the distance, and the horrified screams of dragons flying away from collapsing structures.

“F-Father…”

He pulled me in for a hug, and my heart caught in my throat. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged me like this. Couldn’t remember the last time either of my parents had hugged me at all. Conifer wrapped his wings around me tighter. “We’ll be alright. We always are, in the end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! That was a longer chapter than usual :p
> 
> Now that we’ve (hopefully) established the world of the Rift well in Arc I-II, we’ll be exploring its origins through the voice of this new character from the not-so-distant past. Don’t worry, the main story of Citrine and Sunstone will still be posted regularly, but expect chapters like these to be posted intermittently every few weeks from here on out. We hope you’ll enjoy them just as much as any other POV chapter, and as always, thank you for reading!


	25. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.3

~Sunstone~

**  
_THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD._  
**

_Three moons, I thought this was a dream. The noises are back?!_

I’d been jolted from a shallow sleep once again to be tortured by the nightly racket. Fear strangled the breath from my lungs, and I crept out of bed towards the cabinet with all my carving supplies. I grabbed the longest and sharpest chisel I could find, and backed into the center of the room, barely catching myself as I tripped over a wrinkled rug.

_Just come and get me, huh? I can do this. I’ll be okay. Maybe._

** _THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD._ **

_Should I really be doing this by myself? I need Iceblink’s help._   
_But if I leave, then they’ll know that I know they’re here. Or is that what they want? Wait, if they’re making all this noise, what if they already know I’m here?_

So I stood shaking in the center of the pitch-black room, alone except for the looming shadows all around me and the chisel in my claws. Tonight, the moons were blanketed by a thick layer of clouds, and not a single shred of light made it past them. I tried fumbling around for a candle, but my claws only touched empty darkness and I was too scared of running into my tormentor.

** _THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD._ **

_Where is it coming from?! What am I supposed to do if it shows itself? What if it tries to hurt me?_   
_I have no way to protect myself. I’ve never had any combat training._

I waited, alone, but the noise never returned, just like the night before. I let myself relax, even if it went against all of the instincts telling me to be on guard, adjusting my position to a more comfortable one. I heaved a shuddering sigh. Setting down the chisel silently, I buried my face in my claws.

_I need to figure out what the noise is, where it’s coming from, and how to stop it._   
_Why is this scenario the exact same as yesterday? The noise comes a few times a little after midnight, and eventually stops. And I’m still cowering in my room. What in the moons is happening?_

I collapsed into my piles of furs, looking towards the glass double doors fearfully. Nothing emerged from the darkness, but I only felt more uneasy. Even so, something about the mystery and the relentless pounding of my heart sent the shadow of a smile onto my lips.

For the first time in a long while since I’d arrived in the Firn level of the Compound, my head was filled with excitement and anticipation. Things were finally happening to me that I’d read about for so many years in fairy-tales and fables. A revamped curriculum that wasn’t so boring I could feel my brain melting, an angry nemesis or poltergeist cloaked in darkness to visit me every night, and a friend who’d vanished from my life almost mysteriously... Well, the last one wasn’t so exciting, but still. I was almost pumped to follow Flurry’s orders not to talk about our curriculum changes to Iceblink if only for the thrill of half-lying to her for the first time.

That last thought made me feel a little guilty, but I was surprised at how little I cared. But wouldn’t it be better to tell Iceblink about the noises at night? I thirsted for adventure, and even a little bit of dangerous unknown in my boring life, but I wasn’t about to put myself in serious danger for it. It would definitely be better to let Iceblink know. If I got hurt, I’d have no way to explain myself.

Still, part of me hesitated, and I wondered if I was delusional.

I tossed and turned, trying to reach sleep. But my thoughts chased all of my tiredness away, and before I knew it, the sun’s light was spilling into the Compound.

**. . .**

I opened the door to Yucca that morning, completely exhausted and still blinking to clear my eyes. The SandWing set down a heavy basket on the table, and turned to me, smiling with all of her teeth.

“Breakfast is ready, Heir. Eat up, or second-in-command Flurry’s lessons will never stick to the insides of your empty brain.” She sauntered out the door, adjusting the lace collar on her neck briskly and only pausing to throw a glare in my direction.

I barely managed to grab her wing as she tried to leave. “Hold up. Come on, we should talk and resolve this. Arguing like this isn’t good for either of us.”

Yucca turned back to me, eyes widened. “My, my. So it’s true that the young master enjoys flirting with his underlings.”

I gritted my teeth, massively irritated. Her tone was scathing, and I could see in her eyes that she just wanted to leave, but I was _not_ about to just let her walk away and make me feel like a dunce. I still hesitated to use harsher words, though, after the result of how I’d spoken to Pineapple.

_Speaking of Pineapple…_

“I don’t understand what you have against me. I’ve done nothing to you. And tell me the truth, Yucca - is Pineapple really alright? I can’t help but feel that you’re not telling me the whole story. I don’t want her to be worrying about me or our friendship, because I’m ready to see her again and apologize to her face whenever she is.”

_If she even wants to see me. Three moons, I hope she does._

Yucca’s obsidian eyes darkened, and she turned away haughtily, yanking her wing out of my grasp. “It is not within my power to be allowed to speak about such matters, my Heir. Excuse me. I have several other dragons awaiting meal service from me. If you’re so concerned, ask Iceblink instead. I’m not going to disobey orders like _her.”_ Yucca snorted and disappeared into the tunnels, flicking her SandWing tail barb in a way that suggested she’d like to stab somebody with it.

I stood, shocked. The SandWing had been downright rude and condescending to me, and I couldn’t figure out why for the life of me. Was she jealous or something? My mind had combed through every possible reason multiple times, but none of them added up or explained why Yucca had to be such a MASSIVE prick.

_I’m just worried about a friend! How dare you tell me that her safety and wellbeing is confidential information?!_   
_And who is this HER you mentioned? Pineapple? Iceblink? Another maid?_   
_I doubt you’d tell me if I asked._

I sat in front of the table angrily, dishing out food onto a gold-trimmed plate. Shoving a hard-boiled egg into my mouth, I chewed violently, exasperated.

_My old maid was so sensitive that I chased her away while barely realizing it, and I have no idea what’s happened to her now. My new maid is scared of nothing but hates my very being._   
_Why?!_

Iceblink suddenly stepped into my rooms through the wooden door, smiling as she dished out her own food and sat beside me. “Good morning, dear. How are you?”

“Fine,” I mumbled.

She paused her breakfast, clearly seeing through to the sour expression under my smile. Her claw tapped at the edge of my plate, and I turned to meet her questioning gaze. “I keep asking if you feel down. You always say you don’t, but lately I worry you don’t mean what you say. You can tell me about anything, Sunstone.”

I glanced down at my plate guiltily, trying to hide the shame from my expression. She was right. As always.

_So why don’t I want to tell her about what’s been happening?_  
_Well, wherever Pineapple is now, it’s in the past. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge Yucca, either. She probably has her own reasons for her actions. There’s still a chance for us to be friends, or at least be on decent terms with each other._  
_What I really need to do is tell her about the noises at night. Those could actually be dangerous, and I might need help dealing with whoever’s behind the racket. But..._  
_I don’t want to. She’d just take care of it the moment I looked away, and I’d never get anything out of it, because she’s too scared of me running into hostile trainees and dragons from below. Maybe they’re dangerous, but I’d love to meet one, even not on strictly amiable terms._  
_All this time I’ve relied on her to protect me, letting her coddle me and shield me from all of the dangers in this world. I know it’s all to make sure I’ll be untainted as Emperor, but being able to take care of myself shouldn’t be a bad thing._  
_If anything, it will only prove if I’m actually worthy of everything she’s given me. If I can’t protect myself even a little, then I have no chance of protecting everyone in the Compound from the NightWings Iceblink always worries so much about._  
_…I won’t tell Iceblink about the noises. I can do this one thing myself._.

I smiled at her, eyes bright. “What do you mean? I’m perfectly happy, thanks to you. There’s nothing more I could ask for in this place.”

After a tense pause where I wondered whether I’d have to spill anyway, Iceblink nodded, wrapping a wing around me. “You’re right. I’m just being paranoid, aren’t I?” She chuckled, putting the dishes away. “I’m sorry, Sunstone. I worry too much about you.” Iceblink left the basket at the door, ready for Yucca to pick up when she returned. She glanced back at me, smiling brightly. “See you this afternoon!” Iceblink said, and she left, her wing waving as she walked out the door.

“See you!” I called after her, relieved that she hadn’t pressed the point. If Iceblink found out I was lying... How would I be able to explain anything to her? Most of all, I didn’t want to lose her trust.

_Which means I have to solve the mystery of what’s happening at night quickly._   
_I should take a scroll and write notes for clues. I’ll keep it in a place that Yucca or Iceblink wouldn’t bother looking for it._   
_The library?_   
_I’ll ask Second-in-Command Flurry for a blank scroll to take notes on for studies, and he’ll totally believe me. Hopefully. Even if he knows I wouldn’t ask for note-taking supplies if the NightWing king himself told me to do it. And when I’m done taking notes I’ll hide the scroll in the library!_   
_No one will ever find it, and I’ll be able to fix this whole mess myself._

I grinned and stepped into the halls to find my tutor. How good it finally felt to be taking charge of my own actions.


	26. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I was rereading this chapter and it was kinda bad for on that was supposed to introduce a whole new character oof
> 
> At first I just planned to edit, but then I ended up rewriting the whole thing and it ended up taking a couple days. We hope you enjoy! Also, _Saxifrage POV_ :D :D

~Saxifrage~

There used to be a story that SkyWing mothers told their dragonets about a dandelion that wished so desperately to become more than a garden weed that it sprouted between two roses. It found purchase on the soil with them, became their friends, and grew to believe itself to be a rose through its green leaves and rich stems - but then the summer came. The roses bloomed in all their ruby glory, and the dandelion was nothing but the spot of cowardly yellow it had been all along; in fact, it was so ashamed that it promptly withered away to a puff of white seeds that disappeared into the wind.

_White scales and red eyes. Unnatural, disturbing, dangerous._

In the Sky Kingdom, nonconformity was the ultimate crime, and I’d been guilty from hatching.

There was nowhere to go in a kingdom that had wanted me dead, so my mother ran with me and my older sister in the middle of the night, and we’d somehow stumbled into the Rift’s claws. Maybe the SkyWings stopped chasing us, stopped crying for my death, but we’d crossed from one nightmare into another.

Mother was gone now. It was my fault.

I tried not to think about it.

Four years in the Compound at least took my mind off the past. I had a lot on my plate - failing all my classes and preparing to flunk the Cornice entrance exams in two years definitely took up my time. There wasn’t a spare moment to stop and think amid the chaos and routine, but it didn’t stop my heart from jumping every time I spotted Iceblink.

_How does she keep her talons so white? It shouldn’t be possible for someone who’s ended so many lives to look so pristine._

With my current grades, I definitely wasn’t getting a good assignment in the Compound when I graduated - and that was probably for the best. I really hoped Iceblink would give me some obscure scouting position in the Rift - the farther, the better. Every moment I spent under the mountain, I felt a little more strangled.

It definitely didn’t help that I wasn’t exactly the most socially proficient trainee ever. I seemed to be on good terms with everyone in all my classes, and yet I couldn’t name a single friend. Not even my older sister seemed to have the time of day for me anymore.

_I’m lonely._

The words were bitter in my mouth.

Even with all the smiles I gave, and the compliments I offered up, I would still end up watching the others in class pair up for projects as I ended up alone. No matter what I did to appease my peers, they continued to use me as a mop in the training rooms, and I suspected I was starting to be seen as more of a pushover than anything else. During meals, my eyes drifted over every clique and gathering, and I wondered why none of them would let me in.

I knew Citrine watched them too. I watched him, sometimes, from where he sat in that dark corner by himself. His eyes would flit around so strangely, and his barbed tail always tapped against the floor as if some coiled spring of energy inside of him was seconds away from bouncing back. He only seemed to have rivals, and I’d never seen him smile.

_He’s lonely, too._

I hadn’t expected to run into him when the IceWing twins from Cornice were messing around with me, but I’d been eager to make a friend - probably too eager. I’d been so awkward. I’d been way too forward, and Citrine had been clearly peeved about it. But I followed him anyway, because in my naive little brain, I’d rather be lonely next to someone else instead of alone in my own little shell, connected yet separate from society. I wondered how long he’d tolerate me.

_Not long. He already snapped at you during that one meal; you’ll be on your own soon enough. And then everyone will hate you again-_  
_Oh, but they won’t. I’ll show someone I’m worthwhile eventually. Everyone here is just too pessimistic to get it._

Hope was a terrible thing to have in the Compound, but I carried it with me anyway. While everyone else stared at the colorless ground, my eyes were on the southern skies. There had to be more, beyond these gray-green mountains and freezing winters. My life wouldn’t be another jewel to decorate Iceblink’s red-stained crown.

The truth was, I didn’t plan on staying until graduation.

I’d spent my whole life running: from the SkyWings, from my family’s disappointment, from Iceblink’s ever-watching gaze. It was all I was good for. So what was one more chase?

I would escape the Compound, and I’d take whoever else was willing to go with me. We all deserved better than the idea of prosperity Iceblink dangled in front of us, just out of reach. Maybe the others would finally remember my name, and they would see beyond Iceblink’s all-encompassing shroud. Maybe no one ever left the Rift, but there was always time for a first.

_My name is Saxifrage, and my life is my own._

**. . .**

“Attention!”

The seething storm of wings and tails around me finally stilled, and the echoes faded to silence against the ceiling of the assembly hall. From the front, atop the jagged dais hanging over the lake, Iceblink stood with Aurora the Trainee Overseer at her side.

The Compound’s Leader began to speak, voice relatively quiet but still deafening over the silence of the cavern. “We are gathered here for the first cross-rank expedition of the year - a mid-spring hunting trip to restock food stores after the winter. For those of you in Sastrugi and Cornice, this is a familiar task that you’ve completed annually for a few years now. However, I am aware that a good portion of you are our fresh Aufeis recruits, so I will have Trainee Overseer Aurora explain this once again.”

A few murmurs of discontent rose up from the crowd - no one enjoyed the cross-rank expeditions, especially since they were weighted projects that could completely change your class rank - but they were quickly quelled as Aurora stepped forward to take Iceblink’s place.

“Quiet, please,” commanded the elderly IceWing. “I’ll keep this short so that we can get started right away. Firstly, all trainees are required to find a peer outside of their own rank to work with. Secondly, your hunting options have been restricted this year to ensure that every kill can be used with minimal waste, so choose wisely between the following: forty-five squirrels, thirty-five hares, twenty badgers, twenty foxes or wolves, fifteen deer or elk, one polar bear or one whale.

“I am well aware that the last two options seem especially appealing, but I would caution anyone without a partner in Cornice to avoid them - both animals are particularly dangerous, and out of the way of any scouts that could help you if things go south. All of our graduated hunters will be on duty for the duration of this expedition, but you would be lucky to find them. Also be warned that while you will all have free reign of the Rift in its entirety, as well as the northern Ice Kingdom, scouts will be posted along the Obsidian Cliff and the bay with orders to kill any escapees on sight.

“You must return to the Compound with your game by dawn the day after tomorrow, unless you wish to suffer a fifty percent deduction to your grades - yes, this does count towards your class rankings, and it is a weighted assignment.” Aurora waited for the groans to subside before letting her lips curl into a faint smile. “Your Leader and I await the overflowing stores we’ll have in two days time, and we wish you all luck. You may begin!”

The stillness of the bodies around me instantly reverted to a surging mass of flailing wings and whipping tails, and I was shouldered roughly to the side in less than a second before I was swamped by the crowd. I strained my neck to try and see over the shadowed assembly, but I couldn’t spot anyone familiar that might want to partner up from me - not from another rank, at least.

Then I spotted cherry-red scales, and hope ignited in my chest again. She might not say yes, but…

I dove back into the crowd, dodging a pair of roughhousing MudWings and threading my way through a pack of wide-eyed Aufeis dragonets. For a moment, I lost sight of her, and I thought I’d lost her behind all of the trainees, but somehow, I found myself standing only a few tail-lengths away from where she was.

My older sister.

“Chrysanthemum!” I called over the cacophony. The cerise SkyWing had her head bent close to a glacial blue IceWing I didn’t recognize, and she didn’t hear me over the conversation she was having with him. I stumbled closer. “Chrys! I finally found you.”

My older sister turned to face me, and the surprise in her eyes was quickly replaced with a tense expression. The beaming smile on my face faltered as I realized how many dragons were staring at me.

A silver IceWing was watching me with narrowed eyes, a terrifyingly stocky SandWing had a dangerous glint in his gaze, and even more stomach-turning were the two IceWing twins who’d tried to kill me less than a week ago. The only dragon who seemed even a little friendly was the blue IceWing that Chrys had just been talking to, and his gaze was filled with pensive curiosity.

_Of course she’s with her friend group. She’s probably already got a partner. What was I thinking?_

“Hey, Saxifrage,” Chrys said, face unreadable. “What do you want?”

I nearly flinched. I didn’t expect my older sister to sound that unfriendly. “I - I just, um…”

“We don’t have all day, IceWing imitation,” snapped the silver ice dragon. “What’s up with those looks, anyway? You look like some poor soul’s sleep paralysis monster.”

I swallowed thickly, but the glare Chrysanthemum gave him made me a little more hopeful. “Sorry, Chrys, I don’t want to bother your friends. I just wanted to know if you wanted to work with me on the cross-rank expedition.”

Chrysanthemum watched me for an aching two seconds. “I’m working with Puffin, actually.” She gestured to the blue IceWing, and I glanced at him to see an apologetic smile. “He’s pretty much a prodigy, but Leader Iceblink’s still keeping him in Sastrugi, and I’m in Cornice, so. Um.”

“Oh,” I mumbled awkwardly. “Okay.”

I didn’t understand how an older sister I’d been so close to in the first years of my life could be so distant now, but at the same time, I knew she was justified. After what had happened, after the stupid mistakes I’d made, of course she would work with someone more competent. I would only remain in the periphery, barely within orbit of the life she lived. No matter how close I tried to get, the trust we’d lost still put me continents away.

“You can go find someone else to work with,” Chrys said. I kept an eye on the rest of the crowd, keenly aware of how it was rapidly thinning, and I knew my sister was offering me the easiest way out of this conversation.

I didn’t take it.

“Could we at least talk? Please?” I begged, uncomfortably aware of how pathetic I was making myself look. “It’s been ages. I feel like we’re barely sisters anymore.”

“Now is a _terrible_ time, Saxifrage,” Chrysanthemum told me, lip curled. “And I don’t want to talk. We’ve said all the words we needed to say. We’ve burnt all the bridges so that there’s no way to go back. You need to stop holding on to the past and let go.”

“But maybe we could fly back,” I argued. “There’s always another way. And I can make up for what I did, I promise. We can fix it together, and we can get out of here-”

“You’re the only one still entertaining that inane delusion. There is no going back, and there is no escape. We just have to keep pressing forward. You need to find a partner and _leave,_ Saxifrage.”

“Can’t we hope?” My voice was almost a whisper.

The IceWing twins burst out into hacking laughter, and the giant SandWing smirked. The silver IceWing shook his head, and all I could see on my sister’s face was a wince. “Stop embarrassing yourself. I have to go. Don’t talk to me like this again.”

Without another word, she took flight, and the blue IceWing - Puffin - shot me another apologetic smile before following her out of sight. A few moments later, the rest of their friend group had dispersed, and I was left alone in a cavern that was growing shamefully empty.

I glanced around, anxiety curling in my belly, wondering who in the moons I was supposed to turn to next. All of my peers were gone, and most of the dragons left in Cornice seemed vaguely threatening. Maybe I’d just be stuck with one of the Aufeis newbies…

_Oh, over there. He doesn’t have a partner yet, either? Figures._

A maroon and sand-colored hybrid was shifting from side to side in the corner of the hall, tail tapping the ground, eyes dark. I made my way towards him at a pace that I hoped didn’t look too overeager.

And then I was in front of Citrine, and he was wearing the same faintly recently-sucked-on-a-lemon face as always. I grinned up at him. “I think I sense a partner for the cross-rank expedition. How about you?”

“I definitely have a cold right now, so I can’t really sense anything. Anyway, I’m going to go find a partner to work with-”

“Oh, trust me, I’m _exactly_ the partner you’re looking for.”

Citrine gave me a dead-eyed stare. “Really. You.”

“Yes. Me.”

_Please don’t chase me away. I am going to be so irrationally angry if you actually decide to find someone else to work with and my fears of being completely socially incompetent are confirmed._

Citrine broke our unofficial staring contest and cleared his throat. “I, um, really think that I’m going to go and find that partner-”

“Oh, yeah, and what partner, exactly?” I snarked, a little too defensive. “That’s a long line of possible partners you’ve got waiting, I see - Oh, wait, I don’t see a line at all. I just see little me.”

Citrine’s eyes flicked back to my own again, and something dark ignited behind them. I flinched.

_Maybe I was wrong, and he’s not the innately nice dragon I assumed he was. He’s a top-ranked Cornice trainee. He’s dangerous._

But then I remembered how the SkyWing definition of dangerous had included hybrids and white scales with red eyes, and I had a little hope that maybe we had enough in common that we’d somehow get along.

“Sorry,” I amended. “That was a little rude.”

“You apologize a lot. For someone that lives in the Compound, I guess.” Citrine’s pupils were still dark, but the embers behind them seemed to have dimmed.

“Sorry - oh, uh, sorry about - no, wait, I’ll stop. Sor- Ugh, it’s just a habit, I guess.”

Maybe I imagined it, but the corner of his lips might’ve flicked upward for a fraction of a second. “Well, SkyWing. About that project.”

_“Please_ work with me,” I mumbled, averting my eyes. “There’s no one else who might, I think. It’s really embarrassing.”

After a long moment and a quick glance over the remaining trainees in the room, Citrine let out a long sigh. “If you stay out of my way _and_ keep your mouth shut, I guess.”

“Deal! Thank you!”

_Maybe we actually have a shot at being friends. Maybe I won’t be lonely for much longer._

“Alright,” Citrine said, leaping into the air and starting a gentle climb out of the Compound and into the sky. “Let’s head north to the glaciers by the sea, since we’ll have the best chance of spotting a polar bear or a whale over there.”

“Wait, what?” I was barely keeping up with his pace of flight, let alone his thoughts. “Aren’t those supposed to be really dangerous? Did you hear a word that Aurora said?”

“I’m at the top of my class, SkyWing, and you bet that I’m going to stay there. Also, keep your mouth shut, I said.”

“Okay, but still, I don’t want us to get hurt.” A wisp of cloud brushed the tops of our wings, and Citrine abruptly banked north. I copied him. _“Also,_ I have a name, you belligerent _dragonet.”_

_“I_ won’t get hurt. Can’t make too many promises about you, though.” Citrine cocked his head to meet my gaze, and I glimpsed something in his eyes that I reverently hoped was a mischievous challenge and not a death threat.

Despite my annoyance, I felt a smile on my lips again. I wouldn’t ever admit it, but these kinds of projects were insanely fun, despite the stress.

_We’ll get that polar bear or whale, or I’ll be flying my way across the bay before Iceblink can drown my grades in the lake._

It was only half a joke. I was almost seriously considering running away like I’d always wanted while we were so freed of regular restrictions on this expedition. Who knew when I’d get another chance like this? Maybe I wouldn’t be able to take Chrysanthemum with me, but she didn’t seem too interested anyway. She’d told me herself to move on from whatever the two of us were. And maybe, just maybe, the outside world had changed enough in four years to let me live without being wanted dead for my looks.

_Running is all I’m good at._

But I was getting a little ahead of myself. For now, I shot another smile at Citrine.

“Well, let’s go kill some game.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! See you in a week ;)


	27. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the day-late update; I wasn’t at home yesterday :(  
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming, in which Sunstone goes to class and conducts a questionable investigation after midnight.

~Sunstone~

When I entered Flurry’s rooms for lessons the following day, a new pile of scrolls sat on my desk. They were tied together with a small black ribbon, and scanning the titles, I realized that I’d never seen them before.

_The Plague of Ice._  
_An Extended History of the IceWing-NightWing Relations._  
_The Downfall of the North._

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Part of our secret curriculum,” Flurry answered, sitting down on the other side of the table. He beckoned me to sit down, and I did, folding my wings neatly. “Allow me to explain. For the longest time, Iceblink has only showed you one side of things to the history of the Compound, Rift, and Ice Kingdom. It was a true side, and also a beautiful, overly-glorified side. This is where we come to see the other perspectives. Not everything about our world is simple and clear-cut, and you need to learn that and how to be open to multiple facets of a story in order to make the best decisions. So tell me - what do you know, right now, about the Ice Plague and the history surrounding it?”

I took a breath. “Well, the NightWings had been fighting with the IceWings for decades at this point, probably for the rich deposits of resources in the southern Rift area and for the disputed land that no tribe owns between the two kingdoms. Hollowheart was the NightWing queen, and she was merciless, so everyone was glad when her protégé, Icefall, killed and dethroned her. They thought the NightWings would finally relent, because Icefall was a quarter IceWing, but instead, he destroyed the Ice Kingdom by ripping apart the protective Ice Cliff and casting the Plague. It murdered about ninety-nine percent of IceWings, and the remaining ones are here in the Compound or dead by now.”

Flurry nodded. “Tell me more about Icefall.”

“He’s the current King of the NightWings, which is really weird because tribes are supposed to be led by queens. His grandfather was Prince Graupel, the last remaining carrier of animus magic at the time - Hollowheart captured him in a battle, bred the magic out of the IceWings in two generations, and then killed him and sent his head back to IceWing Queen Pinniped, because Graupel was her older brother. The only reason Icefall is so destructive is because the cost of animus magic drove him mad from overuse and there’s no one powerful enough to keep him in check.”

“Alright,” said Flurry. “Now tell me how the Compound came to exist.”

“The IceWing queen’s secret failed project, in case of a war with other tribes. It was an underground bunker that remained unfinished because of the Ice Plague, but when Iceblink took the reins, she expanded and transformed the shabby tunnels that it was into something great. Into the Compound.”

“And who was Iceblink? Where did she come from, and why did she throw away her whole life for this one mountain in the Rift?”

I stopped short.

_There you go again, denouncing everything she does. But now that I think about it, Iceblink has barely mentioned anything about her past at all._  
_That’s a little strange. I can’t recall a single concrete detail about her, and she’s practically my mother._  
_Why didn’t she tell me anything?_  
_Why does she seem so much more distant now than she ever has before?_  
_I’m sure she has her reasons. It’s probably nothing._

“Iceblink was…” I started, but the words never came to finish it. I could only repeat the fabricated fantasy and half-truth I’d somehow made up for myself. “I think she was someone important before the Plague. Like a vizier, or a general or advisor to the Queen. But unlike all the other dragons in the palace, she felt connected to the poorer classes in the lower circles and wanted them to rise up. So when Icefall decimated her kingdom, she gathered all the survivors and the strays from other tribes and built the Compound, driven by charity and justice. As the Heir, I’m going to have to take her place one day and continue the quest to make King Icefall repent for all that he’s done, so-”

Flurry sighed, and I shut up. Had I said something wrong?

“Every lie is born from some fragment of half-truth, it seems.” My tutor smiled gently. “All of your answers were fundamentally incorrect. Take these scrolls and read them when you return to your rooms. We obviously have a lot of work to do, and a lot of history to relearn.”

**. . .**

I sat alone in my room, shrouded by darkness save for a small, pine-scented candle I had lit hours before. The light from the flame played over my face, shadowing my features and turning the shadows on the wall monstrous and ghoulish. The moons were still yet to be seen, hidden by a blanket of clouds. I gazed out the nearest window, remembering that there was an approaching thunderstorm Iceblink had mentioned at dinner. 

I started towards my desk, groaning as I rose from my comfortable place on the couch. I still needed to take my notes on the nightly noises before any thunder or rain could stifle it. I would most likely have all of the night to write, so I had retrieved the blank scroll I had plundered from Flurry earlier from the hidden niche in my bookshelf. Grabbing a brush and ink, I set them down gently on the table, and lit another candle to chase away the dark.

_Now I have to wait. Come on, noises._  
_I won’t be scared this time._

I didn’t have to wait long before the thuds reached my ears, startling me despite the fact that I knew they were coming.

** _THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD._ **

I shivered, fighting the urge to run back to the comfort of my furs. The thudding had definitely come from the west side, leaving the library open for me to inquire.

Looking up towards my window, I realized that the clouds had cleared momentarily. Unease pricked at my thoughts, but I quickly swallowed my fear and dashed to the glass double doors, throwing them open and squinting at the newly showing moons’ positions before they disappeared behind the clouds yet again. It was only just after midnight, judging from their placement. Nearly identical to the last two nights, and I needed to figure out why.

I watched the flickering candles, awaiting the next series of noises. The clouds outside thinned momentarily, and an ethereal glow shone through the room before dissolving into the darkness.

** _THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD._ **

_The time between noises seems to vary, but it’s always between fifteen to thirty seconds, sometimes a minute or two. I wonder why? They still sound like footsteps or hammering, better write that down…_  
_And the noises definitely came from the library._

There was no mistaking it. It was the answer I’d dreaded the most, because the library was very large and very old, and the rows of bookshelves faded into the dark where the torches had gone years without being lit. Even in the brighter, fresher areas closest to my rooms, the air hung heavy and unnaturally still, and the slightest breeze from an open window made the papyrus in the scrolls whisper like dead leaves. I’d never been brave enough to venture all the way to the back of the library - maybe it never ended - but maybe I’d have to face it today.

I needed to hurry if I wanted to pinpoint the noise before the last reiteration of thuds. I rolled up my scroll of notes, quietly stumbling to the west side of my rooms where the cedar and stained-glass door connected to the library. Even just by standing in front of it, my heart began to race, but I swallowed, grasped the cold iron doorknob, and pushed my way in.

Darkness descended around me, and I flinched as I heard the door click shut. Nothing was visible in the blackness. The night wrapped around me like a snake, and my breathing hitched as I reached out my claws, fumbling for the door.

_How could I forget the candle?! Where’s the door?_  
_I can’t use fire. There’re too many flammable things in this area to risk it, and I’d probably just burn myself alive in this place trying._  
_Better keep moving; no time to waste. I don’t...I probably don’t need a candle._

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the light shining through the stained glass suddenly seemed a lot brighter - it would probably be enough to guide me for a while. I inched down a thin passage between two bookshelves, letting my outstretched wings graze against the walls to stabilize myself. The fresh scent of parchment and ink began to fade, and I paused, uncertain.

But I pushed forward, following the same long row of bookshelves even as the little light from the stained-glass window faded into nothingness. I had to feel my way forward with the ever-present shelves on either side and the grain of the wooden-boarded floor beneath me. The clicking of my talons and the wheezing rasp of my lightning-quick breath seemed magnified a hundredfold in the darkness.

Before long, a new smell started to rise beneath the scent of parchment and ash from the long-dead sconces. It smelled of something damp and heavy, like mildew or rain, and as I sniffed the air, I was reminded of the piles of decaying leaves that had lined the forest floor when I’d still wandered the Rift with Citrine.

Suddenly, the wooden boards beneath me gave way to solid rock, and I had to force myself not to stumble from the surprise. The stone felt foreign and cold, ever so slightly damp, and I reached out a claw to steady myself. My talons closed around gnarled and warped wood, and I realized I was in the most ancient part of the library. I had seen it before, from the few times I’d needed to grab something further down - bare floors and shelves that badly needed replacement - but I’d always stayed away, because the library itself seemed to breathe back here and the silence always seemed knowing.

Most of the scrolls here had to be outdated by decades, and several of the towering wooden bookshelves were beginning to rot. Even more no longer held what could be recognized as scrolls. Hundreds of generations of silverfish and other long-dead creatures had eaten their way through the bindings and parchment, rendering several shelves empty except for the scattered remains of the ancient texts.

My heart began to squeeze and palpitate enough for me to wince, and I flinched as a stray roach scuttled over my claws. I turned in a circle uneasily, blinded by the dark and completely lost in the maze of decomposing scrolls and shelves.

_Should I just turn back?_  
_The library seems so much larger in the dark. I’ve never even seen the end._  
_I really should have gotten that candle._

** _THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD._ **

My lungs twisted into stillness, and I stood there, alone and unbearably small, staring into the impenetrable darkness where the noise had arisen. The freezing air around me strangled my throat, and I forced myself to try and breathe.

_It was so loud. Louder than I’ve ever heard it before, and it lasted for longer too. It was in the library the whole time._  
_And that was the third series of noises, so this is the last chance I get to find its source tonight._

I shuffled my way forth in the direction of the noises, forcing my joints to move with all of my will. I was petrified, and blood-curdling images of gaping, shadowed faces and too-long limbs raced fragmented between my thoughts as I tried to conjure an image of my torturer. Even the library itself seemed like a possibility - everything here was so old that it was hard to believe it hadn’t gained some kind of sentience and empty hatred by now.

Surrounded by oily, pitch-black shadows, still commanding my claws to inch me forward, I bumped headfirst into a tall, damp object reeking of mold. I careened backwards, eyes wide yet unable to see a thing, and curled into a shivering ball.

After a few tense moments of silence, I uncoiled cautiously and tentatively reached out a claw for the object. Relief and embarrassment flooded my veins as I realized the object I had walked into had been a rotting shelf set against a cold stone wall.

_Set against a wall?_

This was the back of the library I’d avoided for so long. The rows of shelves were not infinite, the decay did not hide something more sinister, and I hadn’t run into anything or anyone that could have caused such a racket.

Was this it? Was I just going crazy? Had I gone the wrong way?

_I couldn’t have. I heard correctly, the noise was coming from straight ahead._  
_But how? There’s nothing left beyond the wall._

But I still inched forward until my nose just barely grazed the towering scroll-case. Shifting to the side, my talons slid down the wall next to the case, and I shuddered, the wall slick from condensation. My claws shook as they hit a long fracture in the stone, and I felt around it, trying to figure out what it was.

_A crack in the stone from years of wear and pressure? It can’t be. It’s a straight line._

I ran my talon down its length, tracing its outline.

_It goes down to the floor, and continues behind the rotting scroll shelf._

I tried to reach behind the rotting wood, snaking my arm into the tight space behind the scroll-case and reaching as far as I possibly could. Grunting softly, I retracted my arm. It was impossible to find out what the oddly-shaped fracture was like this. I would have to shift the ancient scroll-case to continue.

_I don’t want to do that. It looks heavy, I don’t want to make any noise, and maybe it’s nothing..._  
_But I can’t take any chances, and I really need to find out what’s causing all of this._

Moving to the other side of the shelf, I leaned all of my weight into the rotting wood. It bowed from the pressure, and bile rose in my throat from the texture of the damp surface. More roaches skittered to the bottom of the scroll-case, some crawling over my tail, and I pushed against the shelf harder, trying not to gag from disgust.

The decaying wood groaned, and finally began to scrape forward, leaving a trail of mold and splinters behind it. I shoved it into the dark recesses of the library’s corner at last, and the wood quietly rattled as it came to rest against the wet stone.

I collapsed, leaning against the wall, panting and out of breath in the freezing yet humid air. After a moment, I rose to my feet again, muscles trembling as I shook out my wings. Craning my neck downwards, I found the fracture in the wall again and followed it with my talons.

_This can’t be right. It ends right where it started._

I felt around the crack, getting the same result again and again.

_It’s a giant square?_  
_It’s mostly just stone around me right now, and everything that isn’t rock is practically drenched. If I’m careful, maybe I can light up the area with fire._  
_Hopefully I don’t cook myself alive._

I opened my jaws slightly, breathing a faint, red flame in the back of my throat. Squinting against the sudden light, I blinked, horrified at my surroundings.

Illuminated by the firelight were several of the scroll shelves, toppled and rotting into the stone. Moist, torn-up parchment was strewn every which way, and hundreds of silverfish and roach carcasses dotted the floor, shriveled and curled in on themselves. A thin layer of dust and mold covered it all, and the smell suddenly seemed a hundred times more pungent as I finally realized the full extent of the ancient library’s ruin.

_It’s possible this place hasn’t seen light for decades, maybe more._  
_I can’t believe all this is just at the back of my library. I spend hours upon hours near the front, and all of this decay is so close. The stomach of an incomprehensible beast that’s been hungry for centuries-_  
_Stop it, Sunstone, the Compound’s only been around for a few decades._

Turning back towards the dank, mineral-stained stone wall, I stared at the dark lines running through the stone, trying to make them out in confusion. What I had felt had been correct. The crack was one big square that had been hidden nearly perfectly by the rotting scroll-case in the corner. I reached out my claws, mystified by the sight, and touched the stone inside of the boundaries the fissures had created.

_What is this? There’s no way this is accidental._

I sat in front of the strange square, hugging myself and extinguishing the flames in my throat, suddenly exhausted.

_There’s so much I didn’t even know about my own library, and there’s still more that I need to find out._

I sighed, closing my eyes and letting my thoughts roam over the events of the night, and I leaned back, resting against the stone.

The slab of rock immediately sunk into the wall, throwing my sense of balance to the wind, and a sharp rattle of chains made my eyes fly open to the size of the moons. I barely managed to claw myself upright, sparks flying from my talons, before I spun around fast enough to make my head spin. Coughing a plume of gold flame into the darkness where I had been resting, my heart stopped.

The strange square of cracks had been outlining a tile or slab of stone, and my weight had pushed it backwards and down, turning it into a ramp held by rusted chains. The stone ramp fell into a pitch-black corridor lengthwise, and in both directions, it faded into a darkness even blacker than the ancient library.

And just barely discernible in the shadows of the hallway, I saw a dragon’s face staring back at me through the gloom.

_Who. Is. That?!_

Without another thought, I turned tail and ran back to the safety of my rooms, my footsteps echoing behind me as I fled the darkness of the library.


	28. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys...life has been crazy lately, hasn’t it? I know we disappeared for a while; we got stuck in an endless cycle of editing and perfectionism, but we made it out :) We’ll update as regularly as we can from now on.
> 
> However, since all of us have mostly moved on from Wings of Ice and the WoF community, chapters from here on won’t be nearly as polished - think more of the quality that you saw in Arc I or II. Don’t worry, since everything is pre-written and already revised, there won’t be a rushed ending or anything. It’s just that the prose and style won’t be as up-to-date like in the last few chapters. We hope that you’ll still enjoy and follow along with Wings of Ice!
> 
> We hope that you’re all doing well, especially in light of the coronavirus (Plague of Ice?? Ummm). Stay home, stay safe, and wash your hands kiddos! See you next week <3

~Citrine~

What had I been thinking, agreeing to take Saxifrage with me on the hunt? I hadn’t planned on working with her. She was the last dragon I wanted to work with, but somehow she’d weeded her way through the thorns I always put up. And now, she was resting less than a tail-length away from me in the small mountainside cave we’d set up shop in for the night, tail curled over her snout in her sleep.

We’d barely cleared the northern foothills before dark on our way north before the SkyWing’s unending complaints had gotten to my head, so I agreed to let her rest for an hour before we took off again while I kept a lookout. But tiredness had dragged at my eyelids and I’d fallen asleep like an idiot.

_This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t stop to rest. This wouldn’t have happened if you kept your mouth shut like I asked. Why did I listen to you?_   
_Why is it so hard to say no?_   
_Three moons, I wish you weren’t my partner._

I stepped outside, claws curling around fresh moss and loose rocks. A small mountain rose up behind me, and the northern plains stretched to the horizon ahead. Although it was nearly spring, they were still covered in snow, and a damp chill in the air settled into my bones.

Something in my gut twinged when I looked up - the sky was gray. I couldn’t tell where the sun was, but I knew that it had to be at least midmorning. It would still take us a good couple of hours to get anywhere near bear or whale territory, and then what? We’d only have a tiny window of time to catch anything if we wanted to return to the Compound on time.

_Three moons, I’m an idiot for letting you work with me._   
_Thank the skies I’m at least not as much of an idiot as you are. I’ll never be foolish enough to pick you as a partner again._

My lip curled. I stomped back inside the cave, kicking a few pebbles on my way in. “Get up.”

Saxifrage responded with a faint mumble, and a snarl rose in the back of my mouth. The SkyWing opened a ruby eye to look at me, gaze bleary. “D’you say something?”

“Yeah, I said to get your limp tail up so we can work on this project,” I snapped. “If it was your idea to sleep, you could’ve at least gotten up on time.”

“Weren’t you keeping watch? I figured you’d tell me when to get up,” Saxifrage complained, staggering to her claws. “What time is it? It can’t have been more than half an hour or so.”

“Excuse me, SkyWing, but I am not your personal clock. What’s up with your sense of time, anyway?! It’s been _hours.”_

“Oh, really? Funny, I thought that you were the one who offered to stay awake for the both of us,” Saxifrage snarked, shooting me a disinterested glare. The boiling anger inside me balked, and I fought the urge to blurt out an apology.

_What apology? There’s nothing I need to be sorry for._

The white SkyWing sighed. “At least we’re both well rested. Want to grab breakfast before we catch whatever it is you’re dragging me around to get?” Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she leaned in close. I didn’t realize what she was staring at until- “Are those _bruises?_ What happened? Are you okay?”

I stiffened, but I hid my surprise. My fight with Jackal a few nights ago had left a trail of purple indentations around my neck, and I didn’t feel like explaining myself.

“We don’t have time for breakfast and we know it,” I growled, ignoring Saxifrage’s other questions and striding back out through the cave entrance. I shook out my wings and stared at the sky past the irritated expression on the SkyWing’s face. “Let’s get going. We only have a few hours left.”

Without another word, I lifted off into the air and turned due north. I had half a mind to check and see if the SkyWing dragoness was following me, but I wasn’t going to be the dragon turning his head for her. After a minute without hearing wingbeats, I felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe I should’ve waited.

_Well, good riddance, I guess. Looks like you didn’t really want to work with me either._   
_“Please work with me. There’s no one else who might.”_   
_You liar. Of course there would be someone else for you. You’re only here with me because I’m good at this, and now you’re not even here to help. I was stupid to think that I could see a friend in you._   
_I was stupid to think that you could actually see a friend in me._

“-Citrine! _Wait up, Citrine!_ What in the moons?! Don’t just take off like that!”

Something in my chest leaped, and I felt a little warmer in the freezing air. I couldn’t resist looking back - and that white SkyWing was there, crimson eyes smoldering, flapping her wings in a desperate attempt to catch up me.

_Why is she so slow? She’s a SkyWing. Does she ever train?_   
_She’d lose a race to Pneumonia’s single brain cell._

I suppressed the way the corner of my lips wanted to turn up towards my cheeks, but I slowed my flight for her anyway.

“Why’d you just leave me there?!” she snapped, catching up to me. “We’re working as a team! You can’t do everything yourself!”

I chuckled. “Some team, huh? We’ve done nothing but waste time. Do you realize what kind of time crunch we’re in? Probably not, if you were able to calmly sleep through precious hours of a timed assignment given to us from Iceblink herself.”

“We’ll be fine, won’t we?” Saxifrage protested, but she sounded a little less sure. “We’re only catching one bear or one whale, right? I think we’ve got time; the northern ocean is only an hour and a half away.”

“This is an assignment. We’re getting a grade on this. From Iceblink!” I spat. “How can you be alright with this? If we come back without a catch, we fail. And if we don’t get back on time, we’ll be murdered for trying to escape. What did you think this was, a fun little escapade? A real chance to get away from that insidious IceWing? There’s no way the borders aren’t crawling with scouts and hunters.”

“S-Sorry,” Saxifrage choked out, and my head snapped up. Her eyes were watery, and the tips of her wings trembled. My stomach plunged. “Sorry I’m not taking this as serious as you wanted. There’s no way anyone could know how dangerous Iceblink is except you, right? I bet you’re one of those trainees who thinks they’ve been through it all just because Iceblink was a little mean to them during their Aufeis introduction courses.

“Well, guess what? You’re not the only one who’s scared of her. I know exactly what she’s capable of, and probably worse than you. You don’t know how much I hate that Compound. Of course I’d rather have a fun little escapade and leave the Rift at the first chance I get!”

“Excuse me?!” I shot back, still reeling from the tears in Saxifrage’s eyes and how unprepared I was for this conversation.

“I have nothing for me wherever Iceblink is,” Saxifrage bit out. “I know I’m incompetent, and that I’m useless, and that I’m a burden to everyone. My own sister won’t even look at me. I tried to make a single friend, and I ruined it from the start because I can’t do a single thing for you! I’m trying so hard because I think we’re similar, but you’re so obsessed with Iceblink that I can’t get through to you at all! How bad could she be to make you such a pathetic shut-in?!”

_Pathetic._   
_Pathetic?_   
_PATHETIC?!_

“How bad could she be, huh?!” I snapped, eyes ablaze and sparks flying between my teeth. Overhead, the clouds darkened, and a freezing wind sliced between us. “Just _how bad could she be?!”_

Saxifrage’s eyes widened, and the next gust of wind dragged her back slightly. “Citrine, wait, I’m sorry-”

“Iceblink is a _PREDATOR_ who _MURDERED MY LITTLE BROTHER_ and I DID _NOTHING_ TO STOP HER,” I screamed. The world went blurry, and I blinked furiously as my cheeks grew wet. _“THAT’S_ HOW BAD IT GETS! Are you happy now? To know that I’m weak?! I’m powerless in front of her! All she has to do is walk into the same room and I feel like I might _drown!_ Trust me, I hate that monster far more than you ever could. You have no understanding of my intentions, and I don’t care to let you know about them. But one day, Iceblink _will_ lie dead under my talons.”

My whole body shook against the wind, but I forced myself to turn away from Saxifrage and press forward, straining against my limits until she was far behind me. My chest ached, torn open in a way I’d never figured out how to sew shut, and I focused my eyes on the sky.

_When did the clouds get so dark?_

It couldn’t have been noon yet, but the sky was almost black. A freezing wind knocked my wings to the wayside, and I fought to regain my balance. As I righted myself, a flurry of snow brushed its way over my back on its way to the ground.

_A snowstorm?_

Somewhere in the dark gray overhead, lightning flickered, and my heart sank.

_Great timing._

Dark blue entered the horizon, and I felt my spirits rise slightly at the sight of the northern ocean, even as the water rose in undulating waves and crashed against steep cliffs with the force to crush a dragon. Nearby were glaciers that trickled from the mountains and edged into the sea, crumbling under the stormy sea - the perfect territory for polar bears and whales.

We’d arrived, for better or worse. The snow was falling thicker, and the winds had spun into a frenzy. Lightning whipped through the clouds, dangerously close, and thunder echoed in my bones.

I turned back, searching for Saxifrage, and despite my rage, worry plastered itself over my thoughts as I saw how far behind she was, struggling against the storm winds. Was she still trying to reach me, after everything? The blizzard was tossing her around like a fragile leaf.

_Why won’t you go?_

After another futile minute of trying to stay in place as Saxifrage slowly approached, I found the breath to call out for her. “SkyWing, stay as close as you can!” 

Saxifrage put on a burst of speed, lurching towards me. “Shouldn’t we turn back? We’re flying into this storm! This is so dangerous!”

A sheet of snow blew between us, and for a terrifying moment, I lost her in the whiteout. When the SkyWing was finally visible, I spoke again, teeth chattering. “You need to stay right by my side. With your scales, you’ll turn invisible in all this snow. And no, we have to find our prey before we even think about turning back.”

Saxifrage’s face twisted, but she didn’t press the issue as I turned away, scouring the glaciers below. Turning away from the frothing ocean, I banked as best as I could past the shoreline to the mainland, studying every white rock and snowdrift for movement.

Then, something slammed into my shoulder, and I gasped. Another icy object punched my back, and I felt something snap in the back of my ribs. My wings nearly froze from the shock, and I strained against them to stay where I was in the air.

_Hail._   
_The worst possible thing that could happen right now._

Glancing back, I saw Saxifrage flying after me desperately. Her wings were shaking with effort, and snow was quickly collecting between her horns and spines. She shouted something towards me, but her words were lost in the storm. I shook my head, trying to find something, anything among the glaciers. Saxifrage would just have to deal with the hail herself. Thunder boomed overhead, and lightning continued to crack like a glowing whip through the sky.

Pale, white and cream-colored fur flashed through the snow and hail, and I paused dangerously, squinting through the storm. I flew in place, gaze trying to make out an object through the storm.

A mass of fur shone again, and my heart leaped into my throat. Our mission wouldn’t be in vain after all.

I dove abruptly, careening through the sea of white towards the polar bear. Reaching for it with talons outstretched, our eyes met instinctively - amber against deep, watery black. I bared my teeth at the animal far below me, speeding towards the snow-covered ground.

Lightning turned the sky white, and Saxifrage’s scream split the air before thunder erased her voice.

I flung out my wings, slamming to a standstill midair and spinning my head towards the sky. My stomach plunged, and my eyes tore through every flurry of snow and patch of dark clouds, but I couldn’t pick out a single white scale from the snowstorm that had enveloped us both.

“SkyWing!” I screamed, but the howling wind stole my words away. “Where are you?! _SkyWing!”_

The snow-choked wind swirled around me, and I couldn’t tell if I was floating or falling. Gravity didn’t seem to exist anymore. I was alone in an infinite void of freezing white, torn between the watchful black gaze of the polar bear beneath me and the white dragoness that had dissolved so easily into the sky.

_“SAXIFRAGE!”_

_What happened?_   
_Where are you?_   
_How can I lose everyone so easily?_

I turned to the polar bear that continued to watch me with dark, glassy eyes. I could still catch it. Still score a passing grade on the project. I’d just have to explain that my partner had been lost to the snowstorm. That there wouldn’t even be a body to find; that she was probably already swallowed up by the raging sea.

_Why can’t I accept that?_   
_She’s not a friend. She’s done nothing but drag me down and pry into questions I don’t want to think about. So why can’t I just let her go? Whatever that scream was…_   
_She might already be gone._

Even so, I couldn’t take my eyes off the sky. I wouldn’t forgive that fragile little SkyWing if she died on me. But as eternity stretched on, I felt my hope start to fragment. Another whip of lightning split the sky, and thunder rolled through the cliffs...

...and I spotted her through the sea of deathly white, plummeting through the air as snow and hail hammered at her thin body.

My wings went weak.

Something was wrong. 

The SkyWing wasn’t moving, wasn’t even trying to fly as she continued to fall. Her wings were splayed open, and one of them was ragged and tattered, black at the edges. Had the lightning struck her?

The realization slapped me in the face - she was unconscious. And there was nothing to stop her fall except jagged cliffs and ice.

I looked at the polar bear one last time. There was only one choice to make - no, there wasn’t a choice at all. It was obvious what I needed to do. In order to preserve the path I’d laid that would lead to Iceblink’s death, I couldn’t return empty-clawed. If I wanted to avoid her scrutiny, I couldn’t give this catch up for anything.

_She’ll die._

Maybe I’d wanted that.

_As long as Iceblink is dead at the end of this, it’s worth any sacrifice. Any life, to pay for the one she took._   
_But maybe it shouldn’t be like this._

I exhaled a dying burst of flame and dove towards the polar bear, already regretting my decision.

I soared over its onyx gaze as I flew determinedly towards Saxifrage’s falling body. The last time I’d tried to save a dragon, it had ended in the worst possible way. If I failed again… This was why I’d never wanted to get too close to anyone again. Here I was, risking all of my anonymity to save a dragoness I barely respected. What would happen after this?

Somehow, it didn’t matter anymore.

I slammed into the white dragon, wrapping my wings and forearms around her body. We fell into a thick blanket of snow, rolling several times before we came to a rest. Feeling fairly bruised and certain that I’d broken a few more bones, I rose to my feet, growling softly in pain. Hail and snow continued to slam against us. Saxifrage lay below me on the frozen ground, wings spread haphazardly. She was breathing and staring directly at me with her ruby eyes, but her gaze was distant and her eyes glossy.

_She’s gone into shock. Not good._

Turning my gaze to her wings, I paused, unsure. The edges of her right wing were blackened, charred and burnt, the membrane dotted with small holes.

_It’s probably worse than it actually looks. She’ll fly again._

Her scream echoed in my ears again, and I let out a shaky breath.

_Stupid SkyWing._   
_...I should’ve kept a closer eye on you._

“Can you walk?” I asked.

I’d guessed the answer was no, and my assumption proved correct as she collapsed into my side when I tried hoisting her upright. But we couldn’t wait out here in the storm until we were buried in snow, and at this point, any shelter would do. Grunting as I slung her near-limp body over my shoulders, I began searching for a den, a cave, anything. The sky was so dark it nearly looked like midnight, and the storm clearly wasn’t letting up anytime soon.

Miraculously finding a small, hollowed-out tunnel in a nearby glacier, I staggered inside. Limping through the icy darkness, I winced as sharp fragments of ice stabbed my palms, feeling blood trickle from my new wounds.

Reaching the end of the short tunnel, I stepped into a tiny cavern barely big enough for an adult dragon to spread their wings. With a sweep of my barbed tail, all the rocks and other debris were sent down the tunnel, and I set Saxifrage down on her side at one side of the ice cavern as gently as I could. Collapsing at the opposite end, I shuddered, panting and listening to the thunder roar far above us.

_Hopefully the glacier doesn’t come down on our heads and crush us._   
_Hopefully we both survive the night._   
_Hopefully all this will be worth it in the end._

I curled up and tried to ignore the stabbing pain of my wounds. We’d both have countless bruises from the hail. I definitely knew several of my ribs had been broken, and my recent cuts had barely stopped bleeding. The ground was freezing against my scales, and my breath fogged in the air.

I shut my eyes, letting the tension fade from my muscles. If I was going to fail the project, I might as well catch up on sleep.

“I’m sorry,” a voice wheezed, and my eyes flared open again. Saxifrage was staring at me from her spot on the icy floor, ruby eyes unfocused and teary. “I-I’m so sorry. This is my fault. I’m u-useless…”

_...I don’t think so._   
_Without you, I don’t know if I would have realized I was still capable of laying my life down like that. Still capable of sacrificing anything with no return._   
_If only I could’ve done the same for Sunstone. I guess I’ll have to settle with you._

“...You’re not useless,” I said, watching her. The dragoness’s lip trembled.

“I’m sorry,” Saxifrage said again. “It hurts so much.”

“Once the storm blows over, I’ll find one of Iceblink’s outposts. There’ll be a scout there that can treat you and take us back to the Compound’s infirmary,” I murmured.

“T-that’s not what I meant,” Saxifrage mumbled.

“What is it?”

The SkyWing dragoness didn’t reply. I leaned closer and realized she’d fallen asleep. Sighing, I rolled my eyes before closing them.

“I’m sorry too,” I whispered, comforted by how she couldn’t hear me. “For how I’ve treated you. For how closely Iceblink will watch the both of us after this.”

_I should cut things off as soon as we get back. If I’m going down, I’m not letting her take you with me._   
_But maybe it would be easier to protect you if I stuck around a little longer. If I gave you the same chances you gave me._   
_You practically followed me into a battlefield today. Am I wrong to want to get to know you, and to pester you about yourself the way you’ve done to me?_   
_How much could one friend hurt?_


	29. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.6.5 ~ II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter from the history timeline! The POV was previously listed as “nobody” in glitched text but that was a little cringy so I’ve changed it to a string of X’s.
> 
> Also, can you guys let me know if these history chapters seem out of place or kind of jarring/in the way of the present story? While I won’t remove them from _The Rift Between_, I can publish them separately in another work so people have the option to just skip over history chapters and then read them later without having to jump around. What do you think?
> 
> As always, thanks for reading :)

~XXXXXXX~

I’d heard it often, a saying echoed by IceWings every now and then, especially from my mother whenever I got up to mischief: An elk that tries to run with wolves will only get eaten.

Keep your head down. Don’t speak when you’re not asked. Respect the Circles and your leaders, and you will ascend through them by the fruits of your labor - but don’t pretend to be your superiors’ equals, because they’ll tear you apart and you’ll be the foolish one for trying.

_Hard work? Useless. Effort? Meaningless. Mistakes? Unforgivable._

In the Ice Kingdom, there was no getting up after you fell down. If you lost your place in the Circles, dragons would sooner break your legs rather than offer a helping claw without consequence. “Opportunity” was a blessing bestowed only on those with prior connections and status.

So it was useless trying to make a change. There was no one who would listen; no one who could raise a voice. Every protest would be drowned by the growls of empty stomachs in the seventh circle…

But I could be this kingdom’s hero.

I could salvage this broken world, if only I had a chance.

As a dragonet, Mother always said to live the life we were given, in all of its empty bowls and cold nights. After all, the people who caused the most change always sacrificed the most, so it was better to be selfish and safe. She’d say she never wanted me to go looking for trouble and pain, and that I could be a hero in my own way. After that, she would quickly tuck me in and kiss me goodnight.

But I couldn’t help but disagree, especially after we’d lost all of our income and possessions. The royals and their Circles had stolen everything we had, and they’d done the same to so many. The world needed someone to make a change, to make the sacrifices. The Ice Kingdom needed someone like me.

_I’ll do what it takes. I’m their salvation._  
_Look at all of them toiling away, hopeless. They don’t know it, but one day I’ll be the helping claw that was never offered to my family._  
_All I need is a miracle._

Yeah, right. Sixth-circle dragons weren’t worthy of miracles.

**. . .**

The one item my family had left from our days of past prosperity was a small, handheld mirror. It was an ugly, sad-looking thing, with a rusted iron handle and a thin crack spider-webbing across the mirror’s surface. A useless item. No one would buy a broken mirror, and it couldn’t make us any money by itself. But sometimes, when I had a free moment, I’d find myself looking at my cracked reflection in the glass marred by scratches from talons.

That was what I was doing now, as I tried to ignore the terror of the earthquake that had just happened. I stared at my image, huddled in the drafty corner of our house as my father tended to my mother’s aching head.

_Plain._  
_Mundane._  
_Nondescript._  
_Ordinary._  
_Not a hero._

My scales were white, tinged with faint blue in some places, and my eyes were the same ice blue as every other IceWing in the tribe, perhaps hardened slightly from years of smaller-than-average meals and physical labor. Apart from my slightly longer tail, I couldn’t find any distinguishing features that marked me completely as myself.

Instead of feeling like I was my own dragon, I felt like a mismatched array of features borrowed from others and shoved together to make the most overwhelmingly average dragon in the kingdom. If I was in a crowd, I’d become invisible. Unnoticeable. The crack in the mirror’s glass somehow seemed projected onto my scales; an irreparable flaw across my identity.

Heroes were unique. They’d have strange-colored eyes and patterned scales, perhaps the jewelry to show their looks off. They didn’t look dull and forgettable.

They didn’t look like I did.

_But I don’t need to look like a hero to be one._  
_I am the protagonist of my own life._  
_And when I save the Ice Kingdom, everyone will bow at my feet, not because of my looks or my wealth, but because of everything I gave to them._

Maybe I’d see if I could get a new mirror for my hatching day, just out of spite. Just so I could see myself without that deep-seated fracture.

**. . .**

I still felt terrible about breaking the statuettes, even if it was by accident, yet I didn’t dare to touch the new statues my father was currently carving for some wealthy dragon to display in their foyer. Not that my mother would let me, anyway. She’d warned me to stay away from the back room of the workshop and anything Conifer made until I learned how not to trip over my own talons. Or tail, for that matter. As if I was still some bumbling dragonet.

So while my parents toiled away at the workshop desk, I stared out the hoarfrost-covered windows, watching the snowfall. The snowflakes were thin and tiny, but the clouds were a swirl of dark greys. Usually, when the sky was that dark, it meant a storm was coming, but so far, nothing larger had fallen from the skies.

I noticed IceWings gathering in the village square down the street, watching as the outline of a dragon flew towards the village from the clouds. I could faintly hear the chatter of gossip through the window, and the eyes of the crowd were pinned on the arriving dragon.

_Looks important._

I glanced briefly at my parents before starting towards the door. “I’m going to check out the fuss outside. I’ll be back soon.” 

They didn’t react, and I rolled my eyes as I left, stifling the familiar bitter disappointment.

I half ran, half flew to the village square, shoving and dodging my way to the front of the crowd. The cobblestone ground was uneven and unforgiving on my claws as I finally skidded to a stop, watching the arriving IceWing make a hurtling descent from the air.

He slammed into the middle of the square, and the throng of IceWings dissipated around him in a flurry, but only for a second before they began to press in close to the newcomer with curious, shark-like eyes. He wore a satchel with an insignia that marked him as a royal messenger, but I didn’t recognize him from any previous announcements. The necklace above his collarbones jingled with three golden circles.

The IceWing messenger in the center of the circle panted, shaking with exhaustion and… Fear? His eyes flitted over the crowd in a panic, and I began to worry. He cleared his throat, and the IceWings quieted, although the whispers at the edges stopped short of real silence.

“There was…” The messenger gasped again for breath, continuing to tremble. “There was no earthquake last night.”

Silence. All the IceWings had gone still, more still than the statues I’d carved with my father in his workshop.

The IceWing messenger reached his shaking talons for us, then clenched them and held them close to his chest, eyes wide as the moons. “What you thought was an earthquake was actually...act…” He shook his head and buried his face in his talons, distraught. “The Great Ice Cliff. It’s _gone.”_

The assembly of dragons immediately erupted into roars. Some began to cry. Others screamed protests at the newcomer, voices overlapping.

“What do you mean, gone?!”

“The Ice Cliff can’t be gone! It’s animus-touched!”

“What happened to it?”

“You’re lying! Nothing can destroy our best defense against the other tribes!”

_“How?!”_

The IceWing in the center of the circle shoved away the dragons closing in on him desperately, waving his claws for quiet. “THE ICE CLIFF COLLAPSED OVERNIGHT!” he shrieked. “NOBODY KNOWS HOW OR WHY IT HAPPENED! ALL WE KNOW IS THAT IT’S GONE! _I SAW IT FOR MYSELF! FACE IT, THE ICE CLIFF IS NOTHING BUT A PILE OF RUBBLE STRETCHING ACROSS THE BORDER OF THE ICE KINGDOM!”_

More dragons began to sob, running from the scene in panic and confusion. Someone charged at the IceWing in the center of the circle, and I heard him screaming as the horde of dragons mobbed him with more questions and denial. I faintly felt someone tug me away from the rage-and-fear-filled crowd, and I turned to face Wintergreen’s grim face.

“Mother.”

She glanced down at me before pulling me back towards the workshop. “It’s just rumors. We’ll be alright.” 

It sounded more like a question than anything.

**. . .**

The next day, an assembly was called in the village square, and every dragon within an hour’s flight of the village was present. Even the families from the slums had arrived, as word about the Ice Cliff had spread like wildfire.

The IceWings had set up a makeshift podium, and a dragoness flung out her wings for silence atop the slab of stone. She looked elderly, and faded pale blue and lavender rippled over her wings like northern lights. There was a single circle on the chain around her neck - the IceWing dragoness been given her position and rank from the royal family itself in order to run the village.

“I will spare the introductions and get straight to the point.” Her stern gaze raked over us, and I felt weak with the suspense. “The rumors are true. The Ice Cliff is gone.”

This time, there was no riot. No one screamed contradictions. Only a defeated silence pressed in on us.

Finally, a dragonet at the front raised her wing. “What are we going to do? We’re so...vulnerable now.”

The dragon at the podium blinked down at the small IceWing sympathetically. “We’ve never experienced an event like this before. So please keep in mind that the response from our first-circle officials may be slower than standard, but I assure you that the necessary precautions will be in place.” Everyone could hear the doubt in her voice. The IceWing shook her head slowly. “The Queen and her court are conducting an investigation. I am told that you can expect an official proclamation shortly with instructions and answers. You may return to your duties.”

The dragons around us slowly, reluctantly dissipated, and I was left alone with a slow-growing fear gnawing at the insides of my head: The kind that wormed through every crevice and lingered so lightly that it barely existed, but still hung heavy over my thoughts. Questions and accusations flamed in my throat, but I left them to burn themselves out as I left.

Throughout the day, there had been no more word on the loss of the Ice Cliff. The Queen had not released anything more to the public, and neither had the village speaker. It was almost as if it had never happened, but you could see the shadow of fear in every IceWing’s eyes and the way their necks and tails drooped with uncertainty.

The Great Ice Cliff had been our best and first defense against outsiders and other tribes, something we’d always taken for granted. With it, we could be sure of safety and sleep easy. Now that it had disappeared, I’d never felt so vulnerable before, even without a single enemy in sight. We had neutral relationships with most of the tribes, but some of our enemies were only a few days’ flight away.

But Queen Pinniped’s silence didn’t keep rumors from surfacing and circulating around the village. And it certainly didn’t keep me from listening to them as the day passed, turning over every far-fetched conspiracy in my mind like there could be some kernel of truth behind the fear.

_“I heard that Her Majesty plans to rebuild the Ice Cliff somehow.”_  
_“No, not the Ice Cliff. She’s building a fallout shelter south of here in the mountains. I heard that it’s going to be huge. Bigger than the Ice Palace.”_  
_“That’s an old rumor, back from the animus tragedy during the NightWing war. Besides, after Hollowheart captured Prince Subzero, there’s no way we’d be able to rebuild the Cliff. It needs animus magic.”_  
_“Nonsense. Queen Pinniped is reaching out to Queen Amber and Queen Dromedary as potential allies, because she suspects the NightWings and Queen Hollowheart’s animus of this witchery!”_  
_“Where’d you hear that? Our Queen would never consort with SkyWing or SandWing scum. This is obviously NightWing work, but our animus dragons wouldn’t betray us. Subzero died years ago, anyway. Hollowheart sent his head to Queen Pinniped herself.”_  
_“I was working in the palace then! It was so scandalous. I felt sorry for Her Majesty, though; that was her brother after all. Do you think all of this was Icefall’s work? I hear he’s Hollowheart’s new animus pet.”_  
_“Probably. What a waste of IceWing blood, too, right? It’s just disgraceful that Subzero’s own grandson was brainwashed by Hollowheart.”_  
_“Have you all been living under a glacier? Three months ago, Icefall murdered Queen Hollowheart and took the throne for himself! He’s not brainwashed! Maybe he’s on our side and he’ll crush the NightWings from the inside out.”_  
_“Yeah, right. He probably hates us anyway, especially after the assassination mission Queen Pinniped sent. Icefall is probably just coming to kill us all, because Queen Hollowheart didn’t have the guts to do it herself. But what will Her Majesty do about the Cliff?”_

The list of rumors and creative revisions of history went on and on. I dismissed them all, but I couldn’t get the image of Icefall and blood-hungry NightWings out of my head. It was all too likely, and the circumstances just couldn’t be a coincidence. We’d thought that the NightWings and their new King had been busy trying to salvage their kingdom in the south, on the peninsula half-drowned by the sea, but what if Icefall had turned his eyes to us sooner than we expected? What if he had really destroyed the Ice Cliff?

The IceWings didn’t stand a chance.

I’d gone to bed hours ago, but I couldn’t sleep. The moons were already high in the sky, and although it was slightly past midnight, my eyes refused to close.

_It’s all rumors. There is no army of NightWings flying towards us. Icefall must be more concerned with his own dragons. He doesn’t have the reasons or the numbers to attack us now. Not after the war between Hollowheart and Pinniped. It was a stalemate, but the NightWings lost nearly two-thirds of their troops._  
_That’s right. The Ice Kingdom is broken, but we’re still mighty. One regicidal grandson can’t take down an entire tribe. Even if he really did take down the Cliff, it was nothing more than a statement. We’ll hit back twice as hard._  
_We’re safe. No matter what happened to the Ice Cliff, we’ll be safe._  
_We will be alright._

And then, in the middle of the quiet, I felt it again. 

A strange ripple in the air, in my bones, in my _soul,_ that lasted for only half a second before disappearing. Through the window, I spotted a neighbor’s curtain shake slightly in a motionless wind. 

Just like before the earthquake. 

Just like before the Ice Cliff fell. 

_If this is Icefall’s doing...is it animus magic?_  
_What now? Will the ground swallow us up? Will the sky fall down and crush us?_

I tensed, preparing for the earth to split, for fire to spew from the ruts beside the roads, for lightning to vaporize the village and the slums around my home. But nothing happened, and even as the sky slowly paled into the magenta and orange tones of dawn, the world remained peacefully, blissfully intact. 

I still couldn’t shake away the uneasiness that had crowded its way into my head long before that night. 


	30. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late! I wasn’t able to find time to post over the weekend.

~Sunstone~

Iceblink had been right about predicting the storm, but the snow and hail still took me by surprise. It had been cold sunny skies only hours ago, and now the sun was hidden somewhere beyond clouds darker than I’d ever seen during midday. A blizzard had swept over the Compound, and nothing was visible past my balcony - although the glass double doors were protected by a rock overhang, a few stray chunks of hail would still hit them with a hollow thud. I kept to the opposite side of my rooms after a particularly large one slammed against the glass.

I was studying the new scrolls that Flurry had given me, taken from their hiding place under my pillows. They included a basic summary of the Plague of Ice and the events that had led up to it; a subject that we’d previously never spent much time on. A lot of it read as almost implausible, but Flurry had shut down my skepticism by running his mouth about how “ignorant” I was.

Could one NightWing really bring down an entire tribe like that? Was power like that actually possible? If Icefall was so deranged, why did the NightWing tribe still follow him? Real history just seemed to be filled with overreactions and gullible dragons.

At least it was more interesting than the bare-bones story I’d always heard from Iceblink. It was a dark and heavy matter, but I still couldn’t bring myself to focus for long. My thoughts always drifted back around to Pineapple, Yucca, and the ghostly figure I’d seen in the hidden tunnel behind my library.

I really just wanted to know why Yucca was so obsessed with making me feel stupid and giving me the silent treatment. Maybe I was being too curious or nosy, but why wouldn’t she just tell me that I was annoying so that I could stop? She was always so insufferably rude when I’d done nothing to her.

I was beginning to suspect that maybe she hadn’t ever delivered my apologies to Pineapple. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but the worry needled its way into every thought, and I couldn’t find any other explanation for why Pineapple would ghost me completely. We’d been close friends, and one argument wouldn’t separate us forever. When I combed through our last moments together, remembering Pineapple’s scared face as Iceblink took her away, I became irrationally nervous.

More importantly, I needed to know why there was a secret passageway in my library and who was hiding behind it. Was the passageway some abandoned emergency exit? A portal to another dimension? I couldn’t dismiss the dragon I’d seen. Were they a trainee out for my blood? A ghost? Had they made those noises I’d been hearing?

_If only I hadn’t run away._   
_I wish I closed the trapdoor, though. What if that dragon came into the library and they’re waiting to kill me next time I go looking for a scroll?_   
_Okay, I’m not going to think about that._

The lock on the door clicked, and I straightened, putting on what was hopefully a friendly but serious expression - it was lunchtime, and I knew exactly who was behind the door. Yucca stalked through, carrying the lunch basket and some cleaning supplies as usual.

Something seemed different about her, though. Off. While she always paused to glare at me on earlier visits, today the SandWing just seemed detached and absent-minded, as if she was walking around aimlessly in a dream. 

Yucca absentmindedly adjusted her lace choker. She set the basket of food down on the carved table and hunched over it, her back to me. I heard silverware clinking softly and took a step forward.

“Hello. Er, um, hey. I’d like to...apologize,” I said, fighting against the quaver in my voice. “I think I’ve been too hard on you? We’re obviously both upset over Pineapple, but please, she’s my friend. I need you to-”

Yucca hissed, slowly drumming her talons on the table. “You were never her friend. I’m surprised you think you can lie to my face like this. She’d still be here if it weren’t for you.”

“I-I need you to stop. Just stop all of this,” I implored, even more confused. The disgruntled SandWing arched a brow. “What lies are you talking about? You’re the one making up reasons to hate me! Stop treating me this way when I’ve done nothing. Give me one reason that justifies why you’re treating me like this, because I’m sick and tired of it. Why can’t we talk this out?”

Yucca snarled, claws twitching dangerously. “I don’t need to give you a reason. You’re the one who’s at fault for this horrible mess. And yet you act like nothing happened! There’s obviously something wrong with your head. Don’t treat me like you’re the victim here, _murderer.”_

I stared, open-mouthed.

_Murderer?!_   
_How dare you?! I’ve never laid a talon on anyone in my life!_

The SandWing continued to rant, shouting at the top of her lungs. “You’re sick. You’re a psychopath. My only friend was completely at your mercy, and you totally took advantage of it! You twisted her feelings around and made her think you..._fancied_ her or something! Pineapple worked _so hard_ to be your maid. She thought you were nice. That you would care about her, understand her, and get her out of this miserable loneliness. And what do you do?! You toy with her, use her for your own entertainment. You _monster._ How could you do that and then just throw her away? _Why?!”_

I sputtered, backing away from the inflamed SandWing. My breath had turned to scared gasps, and my eyes were becoming watery. “What are you talking about? We were only friends! Everything you’re saying-”

My words were cut off when Yucca spun around to face me, clutching a gleaming cleaver from the silverware collection so hard her knuckles turned white, the sharp end pointed directly at my snout. Her face was filled with more hate than I’d ever seen on a dragon, and the knife shone in the light from the lanterns up above. My heart stuttered.

_Iceblink was right._   
_The dragons from below hate me._   
_I’m going to die today._

Yucca roared, tears streaming down her snout. “Don’t pretend you don’t know anything! Because of you, she suffered! Then you got tired of her and got rid of her, and do you know what happened afterwards because of it? Because of you?! Pineapple is _dead._ A mutilated, organless body, thrown away into the dark so _NOBODY_ will remember her!” The SandWing let out a rasping sob, still snarling at me. “My best friend is dead, and it is _all your fault.”_

_What? What are you talking about?_   
_That’s not true. That can’t be true._   
_This is just karma for being so self-absorbed during her confession. This isn’t real. She’ll reply to my apology tomorrow morning, she’ll start working for me again, everything will be okay-_   
_It can’t be true._

I flinched, tears leaking from my own eyes. “Don’t lie to me! Pineapple isn’t dead. You told me she was reassigned!”

Yucca clenched her talons, ripping tiny holes in the rug beneath her feet. “Of course I did! You’re so stupid! I had to, or else I would have ended up just like her. How can you not see anything going on around you?! It was all just another manipulative lie made by that-”

The hallway door slammed open, huge white wings expanding over Yucca’s yellow scales. The SandWing suddenly looked tiny under the newcomer’s shadow.

Iceblink growled, spines bristling. “Yucca. Out. _Now.”_

My head began to spin, and I fought against the sudden nausea. I gripped the back of the nearby couch for support, fighting the urge to break down sobbing. The meat cleaver in Yucca’s claws shook.

_What’s going on? What did I do so wrong?_

Yucca began to scream, enraged at the sight of Iceblink. “And you! _YOU!_ YOU’RE A MONSTER, YOU KNOW THAT?! _HOW MANY DRAGONS HAS IT BEEN?! HOW MANY HAVE YOU PLAYED RIGHT INTO YOUR TWISTED CLAWS, TURNING THEM INTO MINDLESS, HEARTLESS MINIONS DEVOTED TO AN EMPTY CAUSE?! HOW MANY MORE?! DO YOU EVEN COUNT THE BODIES?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY CORPSES ARE IN THAT CURSED LAKE?!”_

Yucca jolted, yanking her arm back, blade glittering in the lamplight. Lunging suddenly, she swung the cleaver in her talons at Iceblink’s looming body, the silver shining in a gleaming arc as the storm outside thundered overhead. A blue line appeared on Iceblink’s forearm as the IceWing reared back, and it began to bleed earnestly. Her blood dripped onto the rug, dark blue seeping into the embroidery.

Iceblink opened her mouth, eyes turned to ice, but Yucca wasn’t finished. _“I WON’T BE AFRAID LIKE ALL THE OTHERS! I DON’T CARE IF YOU KILL ME!”_ The SandWing spread her wings, crazed, knocking over the food basket and spilling its contents all over the floor. She swung the knife again, hitting nothing but leaving a nick in the stone table as the blade bounced off of it with a metallic screech. _“DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! YOU’LL PAY FOR ALL YOU’VE DONE IN THE END, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! I WON’T FORGET PINEAPPLE! YOU WILL ALL DIE-”_

Her screams were cut off abruptly, and the temperature in the room plunged. I caught a glimpse of icy wind blasting over Yucca, turning to hoarfrost on her scales and freezing its way into her open jaws with a crackle. Iceblink stepped back, closing her mouth, and I stared at the frost-covered sight, unable to even breathe. Yucca was frozen in place, mouth open in a wail, tears clinging to her face like diamonds. A thin layer of ice coated her body.

I looked up at Iceblink, dizzy with shock. The dragon I knew so well seemed to have vanished completely, sunken somewhere behind blue eyes that suddenly seemed too pale and harsh to match the dead white of her scales. Iceblink’s shadow seemed too dark, like an oily mass beneath her feet instead of simple gray.

She watched me coldly, and for a moment I wondered if I’d be next. But Iceblink wouldn’t…

The hallway door flew open again, and I glanced away to find Flurry. His expression was terrified, but his shoulders heaved in a relieved sigh once his eyes met my own. “You’re okay.”

Iceblink was still watching me.

“I-Iceblink…” I whispered.

Her blank expression seemed to crack like a mask, and regret filled every feature on her face like water soaking through papyrus. She hugged me close, burying my face in her shoulder and hiding the sight of Yucca’s frozen body. Iceblink seemed just as shocked as me, if not more. I could hear the droplets of her blood hitting the floor.

“I’m sorry,” she said, the words hollow with guilt, offered up to everyone in the room. “Sunstone, I had to protect you. I had to do it. I had to - It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.” Her voice broke.

“I know,” Flurry replied, watching her. The cold look in his eyes suggested that he knew something I didn’t, but I didn’t feel like now was the time to ask. “I know.”

Iceblink pulled away from me at last, seemingly still hollowed from the turn of events. She turned to look at Yucca’s body. “I… I’ll take care of this. Sunstone, go with Flurry.”

“But…”

“Sunstone, please,” she begged me. “Just this once.”

I looked away and stepped towards Flurry, who was still waiting by the door. His face was more sorrowful and apprehensive than I had ever seen. “Okay.”

**. . .**

It wasn’t long before midnight rolled around, and I was prepared this time, lighting a candle and stepping into the library. Closing the door quietly, I made my way past the countless shelves of scrolls towards the ruins of the ancient library where I had been last night. Hopefully, some monster wouldn’t jump out and snatch me up.

I still had so many questions about earlier - What had happened to Iceblink? Would her arm be okay? What was up with the look that had passed between my foster mother and tutor? Was Pineapple...alright? - but Flurry had refused to answer any of them. We hadn’t even worked on our new secret curriculum. He’d just handed me _Inferno: Kairos Rising_ and a basket of pastries and went away to mind his own business. I hadn’t seen Iceblink for the rest of the day.

It all only made me more determined to take care of this library mystery by myself. I couldn’t burden Iceblink even more by bringing this into the light as well. And selfishly, I just wanted to distract myself from complex questions and difficult emotions, no matter the possible danger.

As I passed through the towering scroll-cases, the fresh smell of scrolls began to fade away, turning to a musky scent and then to rot and mildew. The ancient library’s haunting aura hadn’t disappeared, unhelped by the lingering storm from the afternoon, and there was no trace left from my visit last night.

As if I’d never been there.

I finally reached the very back of the library, where the darkness was so thick I could almost feel it on my scales. Waving the candle through the air in an arc, I stopped cold. The rotting shelf I had relocated to the corner last night hadn’t been moved, but the strange trapdoor embedded in the wall had been returned to its original position. The stone square remained in its place indifferently. I narrowed my eyes.

_I could’ve sworn I didn’t put the trapdoor back._   
_...Whatever. I don’t remember what happened very well._

The one thing I did remember, however, was the shocked face that had stared back at me when I’d opened the secret door. Had that been the dragon making the noise? What did they want?

I remembered Yucca’s attack, flinching at the memory. What if that dragon was trying to hunt me down, too? Was everyone outside of my tiny circle of daily interactions against me?

I crept towards the stone square silently, gripping the candle saucer hard enough that it hurt my talons. Pushing the trapdoor gently with my claws, it lowered backwards into darkness, chains rattling grimly.

_A secret passageway that converts into a ramp. But where does it go?_

I leaned into the passageway, observing the tight space with the candle’s light. The secret passageway led down into a small corridor stretching into the darkness on either side of the passageway, no wider than an adult dragon with their wings half spread.

The dragon from last night was nowhere to be seen.

The strange corridor was damper than the rotting ancient library. Puddles of water filled the occasional dips in the floor, and residue from minerals clung to the walls. I could hear water trickling in the distance, and the air past the secret passageway was humid, slightly warmer than the library.

Something pale in the corridor caught the candle’s light, glinting through the seemingly infinite darkness, and I stared at it, trying to figure out what the object was. It was too small to make out from my vantage point at the top of the ramp.

I took a daring step down, and then another and another, until I stood in the tunnel, darkness expanding to each side. I could feel damp water and rock dust on my claws, and the air was heavy and still - not even a breath of wind could be felt. Walking out a little further, the pale thing took shape on the ground. A small, silver ring, elegantly carved with a strange pattern that looked like branches of coral or the antlers of a stag. It looked too small to fit over a talon, though - was it an earring? I picked it up, turning it over in my claws, feeling its weight and rubbing my talons over a tarnished spot.

_How did it get here?_   
_...What’s actually inside these tunnels?_

Suddenly, I spotted the faint flicker of firelight approaching from the left side of the corridor, and sure enough, the sounds of footsteps.

_The dragon from last night didn’t have fire, did they?_

Panicking as I ran back to the trapdoor, I grabbed at the stone ramp and heaved it back into its original position as quietly as I could, hoping desperately that whatever had created the noise hadn’t spotted me. I blew out the candle, hiding with my back pressed to the wall beside the closed passageway. The silver earring I was holding dug into my palm.

And then, for the first time, voices, muffled behind the trapdoor.

“Okay, whoever it is, fess up. We were finally done sealing this passageway and now it’s broken in again? You two need to get a grip.”

“It wasn’t us, though.” There was a grunt, and then a pained sigh.

“You guys need to learn to take responsibility,” said the first voice. “I thought you were graduates, huh? We were given this job by North, the Graduate Overseer himself, and all you two do is ruin your hard work once I’m not looking.”

“But we didn’t do it,” whined a third voice. “It’s somebody else.”

“Who else knows about the catacombs? Who else knows about them and is still willing to go inside? Why do you think we’re supposed to block off all the entrances? Also, who else could manage to reverse our work the very night we start? This one passageway right here; we’ve been resealing it for _days.”_

“I see your point, sir, but we didn’t-”

“You’re carrying the mortar, aren’t you? Shut your mouths and _seal the moons-blasted passageway_ like I ordered you to.”

_ **THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD - THUD.** _

I gasped and then cupped a claw over my mouth, cringing with fear. I could feel the dragons spreading the mortar in place with a few final hammers before a few metallic clanks and grumbles finished the explosion of sound. A few moments later, I heard the trio pick up their tools and walk away.

_..._   
_And it’s over._   
_Should I have left the door open? Should I have confronted them?_   
_Actually, no, that’s a terrible idea. That one dragon yelling was scary. What was all that about sealing off passageways? I know I’m not the one getting in the way of their work, so who is?_

The dragons outside hadn’t seemed too threatening, although they were very loud. A construction project nobody seemed to know about? From the sound of it, they’d been doing it under the supervision of this Overseer North dragon, so it didn’t seem like they were up to anything shady. But if their superiors were aware, did that mean that Iceblink knew about their work too?

Even if she did, I couldn’t think of a nefarious reason why, and I felt appalled for even trying to think of one. At the very least, it didn’t seem like these graduates were out to kill me.

I let out a sigh of relief.

_But who was that ghostly dragon from yesterday? Are they responsible for destroying the seal on my passageway? Is the Compound HAUNTED?_

I rose shakily to my feet, no longer relieved, checking and double checking that the secret passageway entrance was secure. Maybe it was sealed up and dragon-proof, but I didn’t know how well it would guard against ghosts. Once I was sure that it couldn’t open, I quickly snuck back to my rooms. I set the candle saucer on the carved table, ignoring the nick that Yucca’s knife had left on its edge. All other evidence of what had happened this afternoon had simply vanished, already cleaned up by Iceblink and the maids.

I wiped my mind clean of panicked thoughts and worries, and I buried myself in my blankets and pillows. The silver earring was still in my talons, and I rubbed it between them as my eyelids started to feel heavy.

_Tomorrow will be the night._   
_Tomorrow, I’m going in. I’m going to solve this once and for all._


	31. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CEO of irregular uploads ✊😔
> 
> This is a quieter chapter than usual, but Citrine and Saxi need it lol

~Saxifrage~

I drifted in and out of consciousness, my vision fuzzy and dark behind my eyelids. The pain that had been so overwhelming before had receded to an ebbing throb, but it still ached badly as I started to wake up. I could hear faint voices conversing somewhere past the layer of fog over my brain, and my body lay on a stone slab, covered by a thin, parchment-like cloth. Cold seeped into my bones from the rock, and I shivered.

Approaching footsteps cut through the foggy silence, and I gathered the strength to finally pry open my eyes. When my vision cleared, a tiny SeaWing stood by my bed, preparing some sort of pale green paste with a mortar and pestle. She stirred the bowl slowly, meeting my gaze and giving me the warmest smile I’d ever seen. The SeaWing’s scales were deep blue with a slightly paler underside, and the glowing stripes on her body shone with soft, golden light. She looked like she was a few years younger than I was; not quite an adult.

“Good morning, erm - Saxifrage! I’m your assigned nurse for the duration of your stay. My name is Chromis.” She added a minty-smelling powder to the mixture in her claws. “In a moment, I’m going to put this on your wing. It speeds up healing slightly and also works as a painkiller. You might experience some drowsiness, but that won’t be a problem! You need lots and lots of rest anyway.”

I blinked, processing her words through the haze of pain. “W-what happened to me? How long was I out?”

The little SeaWing stared up at me. “You’ve been here for just over a day. As for what happened, I’m not given that kind of information about patients. All I know is that you and your friend sustained injuries from hail and extreme temperatures, and you were struck by lightning.” Chromis began to unwind the stained bandages wrapping around my wing, setting them at the foot of the stone slab I lay on. “...Um. Your friend isn’t exactly in great shape… Sorry.”

I looked past Chromis to the bed next to mine. A dragon lay there under a thin white sheet, stretched out and unmoving except for the faint rise and fall of his chest. His scales were maroon and pale sandy gold, but they looked washed out and drained.

_Citrine._

I couldn’t stop the tears that stung in the corner of my eyes.

_It’s my fault you’re like this, isn’t it?_   
_If only I could have actually helped you then. If only I wasn’t so useless._   
_Why did you even come back for me? How could I ever be worth it?_

Chromis tilted her head, and something flashed behind her blue eyes. “Is he your boyfriend...or something?”

I faltered at the question. “W-what? Oh, no. Just a friend. Not even that, really. Honestly, most of the time I think he downright hates me.” My voice broke, and I coughed weakly. “I don’t blame him. A lot of dragons do.”

The small SeaWing’s lip trembled, and she wrapped her wings around me gingerly in a hug. “I’m sorry it’s like that. I shouldn’t have assumed…but I hope you guys can work things out quickly. I’m sure Leader Iceblink won’t let you off the hook for long.”

I grimaced. “I’m not looking forward to that.”

“We don’t have to talk about it, then,” Chromis said, shooting me a close-lipped smile. “But are you so sure that your friend dislikes you so much? I mean, he went out of his way to save you. I think that says a lot.”

Danger pricked at the corners of my addled perception. I didn’t want a misunderstanding, even if she’d never tell a soul. I shook my head. “Citrine’s not like that. He...does things for himself. He wouldn’t - Nobody would take a risk like that for me unless they want something, you know? And I can’t even offer anything…”

“Well, whatever you say, but don’t beat yourself up. Not everyone is born to be the perfect soldier that Leader Iceblink demands, and even if you think you’re worthless in that market, I’m sure that you’re priceless in another. So chin up, will you? You’ve got this, and if you don’t, I’ll help. I could use a real friend too.” Chromis began to apply the minty paste she’d been mixing to my wing.

“Thank you,” I said softly, but the sudden sting of the ointment on my wing made me wince. I turned my head to find dark burns spilling out over the edge of my right wing in a spiderwebbing pattern. “What in the… What happened to me? I thought you were joking about the lightning.”

Chromis dipped another claw into the mixture, working it into my wing carefully. “The scouts said that’s what it was, so unfortunately, no jokes. It hit your wing, and from what little information I have, it put you into shock for hours. You’re lucky you’re not dead. On top of that, you’ve got several large bruises from hail, but luckily, no broken bones.” She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “_He_ has some more bruises and a black eye, a fractured clavicle, three broken ribs, and several lacerations on his palms. In case you wanted to know. You both had mild hypothermia, but he got the worst of it because he was shielding you from the cold in the scouts’ reports. No frostbite though!”

I buried my face in the thin sheets so that they’d wick away the new tears in my eyes. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but at least I knew. My heart ached.

_Why would you do it? I’m so sorry._

Chromis finished dressing my wing and wrapped it tightly in gauze. “There’s nothing I can do at the moment about your bruises, but if the pain is too much, you can ring for me. I’ll bring some painkillers, or a sedative if I have to.” 

The little SeaWing turned to leave, and I jolted, surprised at how quickly she’d vanished from my side. “W-wait! What about Citrine? Don’t you have to treat him?”

The SeaWing dragonet waved a wing from across the infirmary. “I’m sorry, but I’m not his assigned nurse. And Longan treated him already, so he’s in tip-top shape! Get some rest, Saxifrage.”

Chromis disappeared through a faraway door, leaving me alone on the uncomfortable stone ledge. I sighed and leaned back, letting my eyes wander.

The infirmary slowly took shape before me. Stone ledges like mine were carved along every wall, decorated with emergency medical kits, gauze, and filtered water in little alcoves. There were about thirty more ledges like the ones Citrine and I were on, but we were alone in the long, domed room. Skylights had been carved into the ceiling, and faint ribbons of light spilled through them, broken by the ivy that had grown over some of the holes.

The largest part of the medical wing was the infirmary, but I knew there were other rooms that nurses used for storing medicines and medical scrolls. Sometimes, in class, we walked here to study how to treat injuries and study the behavior of sick or injured dragons, but I had never been one of the patients lying on stone ledges before now.

The medical wing was far from pristine, but the nurses tried their best to keep it vaguely sanitary. Even so, infections and illness spread more easily in the infirmary than anywhere else, and more dragons died from disease than the wounds they’d suffered. There was a heavy feeling in the air, and the faint but lingering smell of sickness, but the illusion of peace was still calming.

I turned my head to look at Citrine. The thin sheet was wrapped around him as if his nurse had tried to mummify him, and his sleeping head poked halfway out of the bundle. His eyes were lightly closed, and his face was relaxed. Even though his scales were still pallid, he looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him.

Suddenly, the sheet rustled, and Citrine yawned. His amber eyes stared tiredly at me, and a large, purple bruise adorned the left side of his face.

We stared at each other until he closed his eyes. “You’re alive.”

I looked away. “Oh. Um. Yes, I am. Wait, were you hoping for something else-”

“Sometimes you’re an idiot, Saxifrage.”

_You called me by name._

“Hey now, not so fast,” I said, but I couldn’t keep the smile off of my lips. “First name basis already? Risqué.”

Citrine opened his eyes again and gave me a lopsided smirk. “I just got tired of calling you ‘SkyWing.’ It doesn’t really...fit anymore. Especially after everything yesterday. Or was it two days ago? What day is it?”

Guilt crashed over me again, and my smile faded. “Citrine, about that, I’m-”

“Yeah, I know. You’re sorry. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway.” He frowned, probably remembering all the reasons why he hated me. “You owe me. A lot.”

“Definitely.” I paused, studying his bruised face. “...Why did you even bother saving me? You know I can’t give you anything. I’m not - I’m not useful.”

Citrine sighed, rolling onto his back and staring at the ivy-covered ceiling. “Aren’t you supposed to be the crazy optimistic one between the two of us? Stop worrying about it. It’s not going to fix anything that already happened, so just focus on what you’re going to do next. Maybe I didn’t have a reason to save you. You just...remind me of someone, is all.”

I was conflicted between being insulted and being appreciative of the sentiment, but I couldn’t resist the obvious question. “Who?”

Citrine gave me a long look, something dark and indecipherable behind his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, faltering.

“You apologize too much,” Citrine grumbled. “It’s annoying. Anyway, you remind me of my brother, I guess. We loved each other to bits, you know? But then, that day… It doesn’t matter. It’s the past, and I’ll avenge him when the time comes. Iceblink will have to acknowledge what she did to us eventually.”

Citrine turned away, wearing an expression I’d never seen before on his face. Regret and longing and hatred all at once, when I’d thought he hadn’t looked back on a single decision in his miserable life.

Somehow, I understood, and I think he did too, watching me. If hope was what demanded I go on, then it was hopelessness for him.

I exhaled. “Before I hatched, my family lived a perfect life, at least in their eyes. My father, Condor, loved my mother from the very bottom of his heart. Her name was Alpine. They had a daughter, Chrysanthemum. You might know her.”

Citrine blinked, contemplative. “I do, but not very well. I didn’t know that you were sisters.”

I laughed hoarsely. “Then, my father wanted a second dragonet, so they had me. You can imagine their shock when they saw my scales. So they tried to raise me in secret, but the neighbors found out, and word just spread like wildfire from there. Soon, the nobles were aware of me and ordered my parents to throw me off a mountain as per tradition or face the wrath of true SkyWings.

“My mother couldn’t do it. She loved her family more than anything else in the world, and that was unacceptable to the nobles...and my father. So the SkyWings arrived at our home one night. They preached about how the SkyWings had zero tolerance for mutants in their society, and tried to arrest my mother for mating with an IceWing.”

“They thought you were an SkyWing-IceWing hybrid,” Citrine scoffed.

“Right. My mother was outraged, arguing that I was just a normal SkyWing dragonet, but the nobles brought up the same point about mutants and said her words had no value. Mother still refused to comply with them. They threatened to kill both her and me, and Father begged her to just listen to reason. She didn’t.” I shuffled my talons. “She ran with me and Chrysanthemum, but Father wouldn’t abandon a comfortable life for us. He found a new wife soon enough, anyway.”

Citrine watched me, sighing. “I’m sorry that happened.”

“He was better off for being a coward. My mother flew across the bay to the Rift in a mad attempt to escape the SkyWing soldiers following us, and they finally gave up. Maybe they knew what was waiting for us.”

The fallen Ice Kingdom in the shadow of the Plague of Ice. Such a mysterious, dreadful event shrouded in the past that had saved and then torn apart my family.

Citrine had closed his eyes, and I’d wondered briefly if he’d fallen asleep before he spoke. “She must really love Chrysanthemum and you.”

“She did. But I messed up,” I choked out. “Leader Iceblink found us. I don’t even know what happened. I was just walking, and chasing butterflies, and doing normal dragonet things...and then she was just _there._ And she just consumed everything else left of our lives.”

“I know,” Citrine murmured. “I know.”

“Mother refused to follow orders again, because she would never take orders from an IceWing. So they g-got rid of her, and took me and Chrysanthemum as trainees. Chrysanthemum never forgave me for leading Iceblink straight to us. I wouldn’t forgive me either in her place, but like you said, there’s nothing I can do about it, right? I just have to keep going. Maybe there’s nothing in this world that belongs to me, but I can have hope. I know you said it’s foolish, but I have to hang on to that dream that one day I’ll be able to fly away from the Rift. That one day I can afford to just...forget.”

“It is foolish, and I still think it’s a useless dream. You won’t convince me otherwise,” Citrine said. “But I understand. I’ve needed useless dreams too.”

“Maybe everyone does. Um...you mentioned your brother earlier, and during the project. I don’t know what happened, but you said it yourself - to let the past go and focus on the future. Death is...hard, and he’s not coming back. But I know you’ll be okay…” I trailed off when I saw Citrine’s expression. He slowly sat up, wincing, and I shifted my claws nervously. “W-what are you doing? You need to rest. Chromis said-”

Citrine glared at me, and I flinched at the hatred behind his eyes. “Those words aren’t for me. Don’t compare running away from the Rift to bringing my brother back from the dead, especially when I don’t want either of those things. I’m not - I’m not stupid. There are things I have to do.”

“...I’m sorry.”

Citrine deflated, and an apologetic wince crossed his face. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just - whatever. I’ll just tell you.” He frowned and cleared his throat, wringing his claws. “My brother and I were SkyWing and SandWing hybrids. Obviously. Our parents were scouts sent by their tribes, so we were born and raised in the Rift. I think Iceblink had been chasing us down for a while, but it was only when I was three that she managed to catch my parents. My mother hid us, promised to return, and made me promise to take care of my little brother.”

“What happened to her? And your father?”

“If you couldn’t tell, they didn’t come back. They broke their promise. I mean, I knew, kind of, but...it was just a wish. A wish that couldn’t come true,” Citrine mumbled. The hurt was written all over his face. “My brother and I lived together for the next two years by ourselves until Iceblink found us. We didn’t know who she was. I still don’t understand any of it. She toyed with us, gave us desires and wants, and dreams that we wouldn’t dare to dream elsewhere. She painted the most beautiful cage, lured us in, and then…

“I don’t know why she did it. She always liked him better than me. He was the one she spent time with, and read stories to, and cuddled. He was the one she..._groomed._ But when we got suspicious and tried to find out the truth-” Citrine’s voice broke at the words, and he turned his gaze to the floor. “Iceblink killed him. She ripped him apart and laughed, and now I have nothing left. He’s gone. They’re all gone. Even the Iceblink she showed us at first, the warm one I almost thought I could love. I’ll make her pay for all the blood she spilled with her own.”

_But killing Iceblink because of what she did… Isn’t that the same thing as what she does?_   
_Would you even regret it at all? Or would you willingly take her place?_

It seemed ridiculous, implausible, but I knew better than to question the rage that spilled out like tears from his eyes. “Iceblink is awful, isn’t she?”

Citrine shrugged, and all of his rage and hatred seemed to slip away, pocketed somewhere in a corner of his mind. His gaze darted to my bandaged wing. “How’s your wing? Are you feeling okay?”

“Fine,” I said, playing along to redirect the conversation. “It still aches, but not like it did before.”

“That’s good.”

Silence fell over us, and I shifted awkwardly. “Um...and you? How do you feel?”

“Terrible.”

I opened and closed my mouth slowly.

Citrine let out a sigh that sounded suspiciously amused. “I’m fine, Saxifrage. Stop worrying. You’ll be released in a couple days at the most, and so will I.” He smirked and reached out with a wing to nudge my shoulder. “And then you can carry on with your usual nonsense of insisting that you have to be near me at every waking moment. Everything’s going to be alright.”

_You called me by name again._

I sat up eagerly. “Does that mean we’re friends now?”

Citrine rolled his eyes, lying down again and turning away. “Well, I’m not going to be weaving friendship bracelets out of flowers for you or baking any cookies. But sure, I guess. What’s the worst trouble we could get into?”


	32. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chapter last week because of AP testing, but this one is pretty long!
> 
> At last I can update the tags to include Luministone :p

~Sunstone~

A full day had passed since Yucca’s outburst in my rooms, and I hadn’t seen Iceblink since. After how she’d reacted, I couldn’t help but be worried for her, but at the same time, I was almost glad that we hadn’t had to face each other. Although all the frost had been wiped away, and any trace of the events from yesterday erased, the room still felt cold in a way that ran chills down my spine.

I tried to bury myself in the history scroll Flurry had told me to read after class, but the words swam on the parchment and my eyes started to ache. More often than not, my gaze would drift to the nick left behind on my table from Yucca’s cleaver, and I finally sighed and tossed the scroll onto a nightstand, groaning and rubbing my eyes. Dragging myself out of bed, I wrapped my softest blanket around my shoulders like a cape and stumbled over to the glass double doors at the opposite side of the room.

Holding my blanket-cape in place with one claw, I pushed open the glittering doors with the other and stepped out onto the balcony. Spring wind brushed over my scales, billowing under my wings, and I closed my eyes.

_How did everything go so wrong?_   
_Was there anything I could have done differently? What misstep did I take to end up like this? Was there any way I could’ve saved Yucca?_   
_Did she really have to die? I can’t believe Iceblink did that. Why would she do that?_

I’d thought that the fresh air would chase away my thoughts, but I just felt exhausted and overwhelmed. I really wanted someone to talk to - anyone - but not Iceblink. Even thinking it left a bad taste in my mouth, but for once, I was glad she wasn’t around me. I wasn’t used to feeling scared around the dragons I loved.

If only Pineapple was here. She rarely added to our conversations, but she was the only dragon who would listen to me without immediately offering up a half-baked solution or a few sugary, meaningless words. Out of the small handful of dragons I knew, she was the one who stopped whatever she was doing just to sit down and empathize with me. Normally, at a time like this, she’d be standing beside me on the balcony listening to me complain, but now she wasn’t - and it left an aching gap in my heart that I didn’t know how to close by myself.

I didn’t understand how she could’ve disappeared from my life so quickly, without a trace. Maybe asking Yucca to deliver an apology had never been the right path. I would probably only seem genuine if I spoke to Pineapple in person, so maybe I’d ask Iceblink to let me out of Firn just once to find the servants’ quarters and apologize. If she wouldn’t let me, then I’d sneak out myself, somehow. There was no way I’d let things end like this. One more chance was all I needed to fix this-

_But there’s no fixing it anymore, is there? Not after something as terrible as Yucca’s death._   
_She and Pineapple were friends - if Pineapple didn’t want to see me before, she would never let herself be caught around me now. I’ve already ruined enough things for her as it is._   
_Everything I’ve done since that day has only made things worse for both of us. No matter what I do, if it involves Pineapple, it seems like I’m only going to hurt her. For her sake, I should respect her wishes and stop trying to involve myself in her life, especially since I already told her I didn’t want to be that close anyways._   
_It’s time to let go._   
_I just wish I could’ve had a little more closure._

The blue sky and the gray-green mountains above and below me blurred together, and hot tears dripped down my cheeks. I sniffled, pulling the blanket tighter around me and rubbing my eyes fiercely, but the tears just flowed faster and the ache in my chest became suffocating. Why did it have to be like this?

The memory of white wings and cold eyes flooded my mind, and the temperature of my heart seemed to plunge for a moment. Yucca’s frozen tears lingered behind, and I couldn’t suppress the flash of despair that made my face grow hot with a new kind of embarrassment I wasn’t familiar with.

_Iceblink...when did you become a stranger to me?_   
_Who are you?_

Eventually, I let out a sigh and pulled myself upright by the balcony rails. I wiped away the tears still clinging to my face and let my eyes wander over the Compound below me - the lake reflected the same blue as the sky, and a few puffy clouds floated past the sun. A small formation of graduates were flying in with the trophies of their hunt, and small groups of trainees were gathered around the lake, only the size of ants from my perch. Somewhere, a gong echoed from below, and the dragons around the lake rushed into unseen tunnels carved into the mountain under crags and overhangs.

A small smile etched its way onto my lips as I watched them go about their ordinary, everyday lives, but it shifted into a sneer as the familiar pang of isolation closed around my throat. I wasn’t sure when I’d realized it, but I just knew.

Even once I became Leader, even after I left Firn to take Iceblink’s place and govern the Rift, I would never be one of them. No matter what I did or how close I tried to get, I would always be a separate entity to the crowd that would surround me.

_Leader Sunstone._

What a soul-crushing title. 

_Oh well. I can’t afford to be selfish. Not everyone has the luxury of choosing their fate, or the luck of getting one like mine. I have to be good to these dragons if I want them to be good to me._

A knock on the door to the hallway echoed through my rooms, and I jumped. Hurriedly scrubbing my face clean with the blanket around my shoulders, I jogged back into my rooms, hope blooming in my chest as my talons curled around the doorknob.

I already knew that it wouldn’t be Pineapple, but that hope still withered and rotted away once I pulled the door open. A middle-aged MudWing bowed slightly in front of me, holding a familiar wicker basket filled to the brim with my dinner.

Her horns and the plated scales over her back were a warm, chocolatey brown, and in between the cracks were undertones of amber. Her underscales were the color of dark honey, and her eyes were a golden hazel that shone even in the shadow of the hallway. Crow’s feet were starting to form at their edges, and wrinkles formed at the edges of her mouth when she smiled.

“Good evening, Young Heir,” she said, voice dripping with saccharine pleasantries.

“Oh, uh, you don’t need to call me that-”

“It’s protocol, Young Heir.” The MudWing stepped past me, closing the door and making her way over to my table. She set down the basket and started arranging the porcelain platters of food and silverware. “The cooks have outdone themselves for you tonight, sir. A venison steak grilled medium-rare, garnished with herbs and grated cheese, with roasted potatoes on the side. For dessert, a mulberry tart.”

“Well, thank you,” I mumbled, sitting myself down and spooning a potato into my mouth. The MudWing dragoness continued to watch me with a smile that came across as both sweet and cryptic, and I swallowed uncomfortably. “Could I, uh, ask who you are?”

“You can ask for anything within my services, Young Heir,” she said, voice still saturated with the same nauseating sweetness. “My name is Achatina, and I am one of the Compound’s most senior servants. I’ve served Leader Iceblink herself for many years, and now she has given me the honor of passing me on to you. Rest assured, Heir, I have much experience, and I will do what I can to take your standard of living to the next level.”

“That’s...cool,” I replied, smiling awkwardly to fill the silence.

Achatina made her way around my rooms, dusting away invisible patches of dirt and pausing every so often to watch me eat. She observed the furniture and lightly touched the statues I’d carved on my shelf, giving an appreciative hum. Eventually, as I stuffed the last bite of mulberry tart in my mouth, she walked over to my nightstand and picked up the history scroll I’d been trying to read earlier.

I stopped chewing.

_Wait, isn’t that part of my secret curriculum? If Flurry finds out or if she tells Iceblink, well, that’s a yikes-_

“Overture of the Monochrome Wars,” Achatina read aloud, flipping through the scroll. “Ah, I do remember this. You were born long after all of these battles, I’m sure.”

“Y-yeah,” I said. “It’s, um, just homework.”

“I’m surprised Leader Iceblink would give you access to this,” the MudWing mused. “But it’s good literature for the brain, don’t you agree? The history of how the Rift came to be is so important.”

“Right,” I said, picking my words carefully. “I hadn’t known that the divide between the IceWings and NightWings went back so far - who would’ve guessed that they were once allies and that the first IceWing animus blessed the NightWings with their powers from the moon?”

“It’s a tragedy, really. The relationship of the tribes would deteriorate over the centuries to come until reconciliation was simply wishful thinking,” Achatina murmured, still reading the scroll. “After the late Queen Hollowheart officially allied with the SandWings against the IceWings…”

I realized that the maid was waiting for me to finish her sentence. “Oh. Queen Pinniped and the IceWing army would attack Moon-Isle, a sacred island off the western coast of the NightWing peninsula. Most NightWing eggs were hatched there under the moons until it was frozen to the ground during that battle and all of its inhabitants were slaughtered...and all of the NightWing eggs were smashed. Now, instead of being a hatchery, Moon-Isle is a graveyard.”

“Precisely,” Achatina said. “But even amidst all of that destruction, Queen Hollowheart had been anticipating the attack. Although she did little to protect her own civilians, she still successfully captured Prince White, the last animus of the IceWing tribe. After he’d successfully fertilized the egg of a NightWing dragoness, she had him killed and sent his head back to Queen Pinniped. I remember that day - I was a small hatchling when the news first reached the Mud Kingdom.”

“But the dragonet that would come out of Prince White’s egg wouldn’t be an animus,” I continued. “It actually took another generation for Queen Hollowheart to obtain one - the grandson of Prince White, who would be Icefall. He was supposed to be a weapon for the NightWings, so Queen Pinniped sent out two IceWings to assassinate him, but they never returned and Icefall remained alive. And ten years later, Icefall would take Hollowheart’s life and crown himself as Emperor before shredding the IceWing tribe to ribbons. Eventually, Leader Iceblink and the few survivors would build the Compound and take in runaway dragons from other tribes after the Obsidian Cliff rose from the southern border, and that’s how we get to today.”

“You know your history quite well, Young Heir,” Achatina said, giving me an appraising look. “I’ll be sure to let Leader Iceblink and your tutor know that you’re doing so well.”

_Oh, no, please don’t-_

“Well, I’ll clean this up,” said Achatina, gathering up the dishes and producing a damp towel to wipe down the table until it shone. “I’m glad we got to know each other so well, Young Heir. If you are ever in need of assistance, do not hesitate to ring for me - Leader Iceblink has placed you as my highest priority.”

Within moments, the middle-aged dragoness was gone, and I was left alone in my rooms as the sun began to set, unsure as to why I felt so nervous.

**. . .**

I knew it was going to be one of those nights where my eyes would refuse to close no matter how tired I was. It had been dark for hours, and my body ached from lying in the same position on my bed for so long, my arms and legs tangled up in an array of blankets and furs. Every scale on my body dripped with exhaustion, but I was almost too tired to sleep.

I just felt so disoriented. So much had changed in the last few weeks, and at the same time, nothing had changed at all. I wanted nothing more than to wallow in my own anxious tears and to cry into Iceblink’s shoulder for a good hour, but it was nearly midnight and I hadn’t seen her in over a day. Part of my sleep-deprived mind whispered that it was because I’d done something wrong.

_Okay, Sunstone, it’s time to stop. Three moons, you’re being so pessimistic lately. If you’re not going to sleep, then at least do something productive with yourself._

The thought reminded me of what I’d been planning last night - I’d even set out all my supplies and hidden them in the cabinet I displayed my sculptures in early in the morning. It was already past midnight, and I wasn’t going to get a minute of rest, so I might as well just go and do what I’d been preparing for.

_Come to think of it, there weren’t any noises tonight. Could it be that those dragons have finally stopped coming around at night?_   
_That would make things so much easier for me._

It really was due time that I started exploring the strange tunnels behind the passageway in my library. I’d been thinking about them for so long, and their shroud of mystery was just begging to take me in. Just the thrill of the thought of that place was enough to put a small smile back on my face, and more than enough to get me rolling out of bed.  
I tiptoed my way over to the glass and oak display cabinet, being unnecessarily careful as I pried open the door and felt my way towards the back corner of the bottom shelf. Pulling away a small sheet of canvas, I grabbed the objects that had been resting underneath it - a candle, a saucer, and the intricate silver earring I’d found on my last adventure.

I puffed out a small flame and waited for the candle wick to catch fire before I pulled away and pushed it firmly into place on the saucer. Placing the earring on the edge of the dish, I made my way over to the library door and pushed my way inside.

The trip down the aisles of scrolls was quicker than ever before, and it only felt like seconds before I was standing in front of the hidden passageway, as closed as it had ever been. I put my ear against it, straining to hear, but the only sound that reached me was my own breathing. It didn’t seem I would run into anyone tonight, but fear still kept me rooted to the library floor. The cold humidity felt like a weight on my shoulders, and somewhere, a rotting shelf creaked softly.

_Come on. You have to be able to do this one thing yourself; after all, you already got this far. Finish what you started._

I took a deep breath and leaned all of my weight into the hidden door.

Chains rattled as the passageway fell backwards into darkness with a quiet thud. A fine shower of gray dust settled over the ground ahead, and past the tiny flame atop my candle, there was nothing but a black square and a ramp that led down into darkness.

Somehow, the void ahead tugged away my overwhelming fear. Although the pit of my stomach was still tight with nervousness, a veil of calm had fallen over my mind, and the steps down the ramp into the tunnel were easier than they’d been before.

I held out the candle and swept it in front of me in an arc, revealing a tunnel that stretched into nothingness on my left and right, directly perpendicular to the library passageway. Nothing had changed since my last visit - the air was still slightly warmer and uncomfortably still, and the rock beneath me was still slightly damp. The air smelled of dust and dirt, and somewhere, I could hear water dripping.

There wasn’t anything that distinguished the left side of the corridor from the right, but I remembered that the dragons I’d spotted last night had arrived from the left, so maybe I’d find something that way. After a moment of hesitation, I steeled my nerves again and started making my way down the left tunnel.

The rock floor underneath me was uneven, dappled with small dips and ruts that were sometimes filled with shallow pools of cloudy water. Overhead, stalactites hung from the ceiling, some so long that I had to duck beneath them. The corridor was barely wide enough for me to walk with my wings half-extended, and it felt much too large and claustrophobic all at once. Even so, some strange part of me just seemed to fit perfectly, and that eerie sense of belonging pulled me farther and farther away from the passageway I’d left behind.

A few minutes later, the corridor started to curve and widen, and I slowed my pace. Waving the candle around again, I managed to see a few dark pockets at random intervals along the walls - stepping closer, I realized that they were more tunnels, leading to downward staircases and around corners until they veered out of sight. A chill ran down my spine.

_There’s more of these tunnels? I can already see three new pathways from here besides the largest corridor. Where do they go? Do they lead to more tunnels and pathways, too? Or do they go nowhere at all?_

I got the distinct feeling that I’d stepped into a labyrinth that was beyond my ability to comprehend, too vast and too complex to begin to fathom. Part of me wanted to wander down one of the smaller tunnels, but there was a darker darkness in them that almost seemed to breathe, so I kept to the widest corridor and walked in a straight line.

After a while, the tunnel started to grow thin again, and I tucked in my wings. Stalagmites started to rise higher from the floor, and the scattered puddles turned a little deeper, so I picked my steps carefully, acutely aware of the relentless pounding of my heart.

Something fell onto my snout, making me jump, and I reached up curiously. But the object moved, skittering over my eyelid and into my horns, and my heart skipped a beat as I realized what the eight-legged abomination was. I fought against the shriek in my throat, shaking my head and swatting at my horns with my free talons until the spider finally dislodged itself, dropping to the ground and disappearing into a crevice in the floor.

_Three moons, that was awful._

I shuddered and continued down the corridor, a lot more aware of my surroundings than I’d ever wanted to be. The quiet dripping of water suddenly sounded as sentient as a heartbeat, the stalactites and stalagmites jutted from the floor like impossibly huge teeth, and cold air rushed over my scales like the exhale of some cosmic horror-

_Wait, is that wind?_

I stood still for a moment, and the faint breeze reached me again.

_There’s an exit nearby._

Without wasting a second, I rushed forward, straining my eyes to see a glimpse of light anywhere beyond the flame of my candle, but there was nothing but darkness, and I faltered, wondering if I’d imagined the breeze. Even after another few steps, there was no sign of starlight at the end of the tunnel, and I finally slowed to a stop, listening to the echo of my clawsteps fade to silence.

_Was there always an echo?_

My blood turned to ice. The soft dripping of water in the distance turned to the sharp clicks of talons against stone, louder with every step, and the realization hit me far too late - I’d been followed. I spun around quickly - too quickly - and tripped backwards over a stalagmite, and the candle fell from its saucer onto the ground, plunging me into blackness - but not before I glimpsed a tall silhouette, gleaming teeth, and the flash of a knife being drawn.

My mind went blank with panic, and I groped at the stone floor for my belongings in a panic, hissing and flinching as my talons pressed into hot wax. The candle was ruined, but my claws still found themselves curled around the silver earring. I tried to stumble backwards blindly into the darkness, away from my stalker, but something cold and sharp pressed against my neck, and I froze.

“P-please don’t hurt me, I’m begging you,” I choked out in a high-pitched whimper. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did wrong but I’m really sorry; I know I’m not supposed to be here and I promise I won’t come back, but please don’t hurt me-”

The knife disappeared from my throat, and I pressed myself against the wall, holding my breath. After a moment, a voice spoke, deep and slightly raspy - definitely male.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

“I-I’m Sunstone.”

“I don’t know that name. Are you sure about that? What’s your rank?”

“I’m not a trainee. Are you? Is that why you want to kill me? Because I’m the Heir? I’m really sorry; I’ll stay away from this place,” I said in a rush. “I don’t know what I did wrong, honest. Please, just don’t hurt me. I really-”

A claw rested on my shoulder, talons squeezing me gently. “Just...relax, okay? I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I was just startled when I spotted you, because in a place like this most dragons wouldn’t be afraid to do a lot of bad things to me. I don’t normally threaten strangers with a knife.”

“I-Is it really that dangerous here?” I asked.

The talons on my shoulder patted me reassuringly. “If it was, I wouldn’t be here every night, would I? You just need to be careful. Sorry, uh, Sunstone. I guess I was a little too careful tonight.”

“Oh, uh, it’s okay?” I mumbled, shivering.

“Are you that scared? It’s really not that dangerous,” said the voice. He let an amused huff. “You don’t seem like the type that would explore the catacombs.”

“Well, it’s just really dark…”

“Oh, sorry. I can fix that.”

After a moment, cool blue light illuminated the corridor again, ghostly but still friendlier than the oppressive darkness. I realized the light was coming from the dragon standing in front of me, where scattered scales along his underbelly and his snout glowed faintly, and I blinked, letting my eyes adjust again.

The dragon standing in front of me looked about my age, only a couple years older at most. His scales were a pattern of dark cobalt and foggy gray-blue, with flecks of pale silver in between. Although blue gills pulsed along his neck, the aquatic frills down his back and chest were an icy white, his horns were nearly straight, and his gray claws were serrated hooks. His long tail disappeared into the shadows behind him.

I glanced upwards to meet his gaze, and I couldn’t help but gasp a little when I saw his eyes - shining silver, almost a perfect match to the earring I’d found. “...Thanks for the light.”

“Better, huh?” The strange dragon gave me a lopsided grin and let go of my shoulder. In his other claw, he was still holding the knife, twirling it between his talons in a way that was almost mesmerizing. “Want to explain what that whole ‘Heir’ situation is that you mentioned just now?”

“Oh, okay,” I said awkwardly. “I figured you already knew. I know that most trainees from below can be...temperamental, so I’m not really supposed to be here. I’m Leader Iceblink’s official successor, so I live in Firn and get tutored there.”

“Really now?” The blue-and-white dragon studied me and twirled his knife again. “I’m not going to elaborate, but let’s just say that Iceblink and I aren’t on the best of terms. I hope that’s not going to be a problem.”

I eyed the knife nervously. “No?”

The dragon saw where I was looking, and he shuffled his wings, letting out an embarrassed laugh. He sheathed the blade into a strap around his forearm. “I should stop playing with this, huh? You’re pretty easily scared.”

“Excuse me,” I snapped. “You’re the one knifing around and being ominous.”

“My most sincere apologies,” said the dragon, giving me a cheeky bow. “I’ll refrain from being ominous from this point forward, Sunstone.”

I couldn’t hide the smile on my face or stop the giggle that escaped my lips. I didn’t know how the situation had managed to defuse so quickly, but there was just something welcoming about the stranger in front of me, and he seemed just as embarrassed as I was. “Could I ask you a few things?”

“Shoot away.” The dragon sat back, picking up the saucer I’d dropped on the floor. He wiped it off, turned it over in his claws, and handed it back to me.

“What is this place? I discovered it after some noises were bothering me at night from behind the passageway I went through to get here. Also, do you have any idea what the noises are all about? And how far does this tunnel system go? Is this still the Compound?”

“Well, these are the catacombs,” the blue-and-white dragon told me. “I’ve been exploring them for quite a while, and I navigate them pretty well, but I’m pretty sure that the only dragons who know the full extent of the catacombs are the founders and Leader Iceblink. This is still within the mountain of the Compound, but they’re off-limits unless you’ve got direct orders to be here. Lately, they’ve been busy because the graduates have an assignment to seal off all the passageways and close this place forever, which is probably the noises you’ve been hearing. However, I don’t really appreciate closing the catacombs, so I’ve been, ah, helping out with work a little. I think they’re starting to give up.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “That’s...interesting. Thanks for all the sleepless nights.”

“You’re welcome. I have to say, though, it’s really quite a surprise to run into a cute little dollop of cream like you in a place like this,” mused the dragon, giving me an evil grin. “Sleepless nights how, exactly? Was there maybe another reason you walked right into my lair besides just having an adventurous spirit? I can think of one; it’s in front of you.”

“Three moons, don’t,” I groaned, pushing the blue-and-white dragon lightly. I prayed that he couldn’t see the blush on my face. “I was hoping to not see anybody and instead I ran into you, so now my life is a lot more complicated.”

“Complicated how?” he asked. “I’m not telling anybody. Our midnight rendezvous will be very simple and secret.”

“Are all trainees from below as inappropriate as you are? No wonder I’m not allowed to meet any of you yet,” I said, laughing.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything. You’re just interpreting me strangely,” the dragon joked. He nudged me with a white wing. “You didn’t tell me why your life is complicated yet.”

“Well, you see…” I started, mischief brewing on my tongue. Maybe I was a total fool for doing this, and the situation I was in was a lot more dangerous than I thought, but I still dared. “Since I’ve found the catacombs, the size of my world has basically doubled, right? That was already pretty complicated, but then I ran into an outlier like you and I’ve got to make sure you’re not going to be telling anyone about this. Plus, you do seem kind of dangerous, so as the Heir, I should probably do something about that, right?”

“There’s no way I can tell anyone about this and not get in trouble myself, and I'm perfectly family-friendly, but okay.” He chuckled. “What do you need from me, Heir?”

“Show me around the catacombs and teach me how to navigate,” I offered.

“No,” the dragon said flatly. “I hate to tell you this, but I’m not going to risk meeting with you here multiple times.”

“You can’t say no,” I argued, stepping towards him. “Or else I might have to tell Iceblink that somebody’s been messing with her graduates’ work and interfering with my sleep schedule. I mean, I wouldn’t...unless?”

The blue-and-white dragon gave me a deeply annoyed stare, and I smirked, loosening my grip on the silver earring in my talons to toss it up and down in the air just to look extra smug as I watched him.

The other dragon’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed my wrist, staring at the earring in my palm. “Where did you find this? I’ve been looking for it all night.”

I blinked. “It’s yours?”

“Yeah,” said the dragon, giving me a happy smile. His silver eyes glowed with appreciation. “It’s very important to me. Thank you for saving it, Sunstone.”

He reached for the earring, but I closed my talons around it again. When he glanced back at me, I smiled innocently. “I’ll give it to you if you promise to meet up with me again and show me around the catacombs.”

“You’re really impossible,” he groaned, but there was a wide grin on his lips. “Fine, fine. Whatever you say, Heir.”

“Well, then, here you go,” I said, placing the earring in his palm.

The blue-and-white dragon grasped it and hooked it into his right ear, bowing his head lightly towards me as he adjusted it. “Thank you. This really is very important to me.”

“Of course,” I said, feeling touched and a little guilty. The earring did look like it belonged on him - something about it just made his appearance complete. “I wasn’t going to keep it from you anyway. B-but you already agreed, so you can’t take it back.”

The dragon in front of me rolled his eyes before squeezing my shoulder again. “You really need to find a better hobby besides trespassing. It’s going to be light outside in a few hours. I’ll walk you back to whatever passageway you came through, okay? You can’t stay in here too long.”

“Actually, there’s one more thing I need,” I said. My newly hired tour guide gave me an irritated glance as he started to walk the way we’d come, and I rushed forward. “Can you introduce yourself?”

“What, I didn’t already? Sorry about the mystery,” he said, embarrassed. He brushed his wing against mine apologetically, and maybe I was being especially stupid tonight, and I had no idea what kind of trouble I was getting myself into, but I couldn't pull myself away. The dragon gave me another sharp, crooked grin. “Nice to meet you. I’m Luminescent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "i have to be good to other dragons if i want them to be good to me"
> 
> *blackmails random trainee to get a free tour of the natural wonders of the rift*


	33. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy memorial day!
> 
> We've almost reached the end of Arc III. There's going to be 2 more chapters for this arc (one from a new PoV character yaaayyy) and then we'll be rolling into Arc IV in all of its slow burn, pining, and horny Luminescent moments >:O
> 
> As always, thank you for reading ^^

~Citrine~

I sat curled in one of the stone desks of a ground-level classroom just inside of a cavern, forcing myself through a scroll about different types of weapons with blades. I’d missed some classes during my stay in the infirmary, and I was quickly falling behind. With a Melee Strategy exam coming up, I’d have to set aside most of my spare time to study. Although my body was still sore, and my ribs generated stabbing pain if I moved too quickly, all of my teachers had made it clear that I’d still have to compete on the same level as everyone else.

It was likely that Saxifrage and I hadn’t been the only ones to do poorly on the hunting project. In an assembly the day after we’d escaped the infirmary, Iceblink had made it clear that her expectations were a lot higher and that a lot of us had disappointed her. The rankings had shifted dramatically, and although Iceblink had acted like she wouldn’t assign another group project for a long time, her speech had almost seemed like a threat to give us another one.

It was strange. Despite all my recent struggles, and my disastrous grades, I didn’t feel all that stressed out. I found myself waking up each day and starting to look forward to the minutes in between classes and the moments where Iceblink would turn her all-seeing gaze away - those scattered seconds at lunch where I no longer sat alone and had someone to drown out the silence of my thoughts with her cheerful talk. Honestly, I still didn’t know how I felt about everything, but it was nice to wake up and have something to hope for. 

It really was nice to have a friend again, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any reservations. Too many what-ifs circled in my head like vultures, the eyes of the other trainees seemed to probe too deep into my scales, and part of me already felt like whatever I had now with Saxifrage was doomed to burn to ashes and dissipate in the wind like dust. Some wretched, paranoid part of me just prayed that it wouldn’t end as painfully as things did with Puffin.

Even now, the abrupt end to our short friendship still twisted in my heart. The silence between us was deafeningly loud, and no matter how close we might be to each other in any given room, there would always be an ocean of unsaid words. I knew it was my fault, for taking his initial silence as a finality and refusing to reconcile, but he hadn’t reached out to me either. All I’d done was watch him drift silently away, realize that he’d never needed me, and learn that he thrived without me.

Maybe I could’ve tried harder; pulled him back towards the space he used to take up next to me. But after seeing how unnecessary I was in his life, and how easily I’d been erased from his narrative… What was the point? All I could do was wonder if Saxifrage would stay as long as he had.

Now, though, seeing Puffin not only cued an onslaught of unresolved emotions, but also left lingering suspicion and resentment. Since we’d run into each other that night in the Cornice Commons, he always seemed to be watching me from a distance, even though he’d proclaimed that he no longer wanted anything to do with me. And maybe I was overreacting, but it seemed like he had his eye on Saxifrage as well after the hunting project.

_What could he want from me? I thought it was accidental at first, but now I have to wonder. Have I finally become suspicious to Iceblink? Why would she have Puffin watch Saxifrage, too?_   
_We’ll have to be careful. Really careful. It’d be bad if they’re looking for conclusions to jump to so early. At the very least, the other trainees have mostly ignored us._

Rust-colored talons slammed down onto my desk, making my inkwell shake, and I raised my eyes from the scroll to find the familiar mask of irritation my teacher always wore.

It was Potoo, the SkyWing who’d taken part in Iceblink’s quest to abduct and murder Sunstone. He was universally despised by the trainees - his arrogant nature and picky judgement when grading assignments was the only side of his persona that he chose to display, and frankly, there didn’t seem anything much deeper under the SkyWing’s supercilious surface. He had about as much depth as a puddle during a drought. 

The expression on my face remained cold and unmoving, but under my desk, my fists shook with bitter rage. Part of me could still feel the scrape of tree bark against my face, and the SkyWing’s sneer hovered at the front of my imagination. Would anyone think twice about a perpetrator if Potoo was found at the bottom of the lake, bloated and half-rotted? Summer was approaching; there wouldn’t be any more ice in the way for a few months of mild weather.

_No. You can’t think like this. Someone would see. Someone would tell._   
_Iceblink is what matters. This SkyWing isn’t important._

Potoo sneered down at me, yellowed and cavity-filled teeth bared in my face. I forced myself not to wrinkle my snout at the smell.

“Citrine,” he said, voice punctuated with a snarl. “Seems like Leader Iceblink wants to have a little chat with you. Take your things and the pass and head to her office in Firn. Don’t bother coming back afterwards.” The SkyWing handed me a small granite tablet and trundled back over to his desk at the front of the room, jerking his head in the direction of the door.

_Summoned by Leader Iceblink? That can’t be good._

I grasped the granite pass in my palm, packing up my things quickly and ignoring the curious stares of the other trainees. There was a whisper somewhere in the classroom as I exited, but Potoo’s squawk at the trainee to shut up was cut off by the slam of the door. I turned away, preparing myself for the quick jog over to Firn, but I froze before I took a single step.

_What’s he doing here? I didn’t want to think about him again today._

Puffin was standing in front of me, waiting, expression aloof. His glacial scales shimmered under the skylights carved into the ceiling, but his blue eyes were dark as he studied my face. Although he looked like he wanted to say something, the blue IceWing held his tongue.

I stepped to the side, shifting my gaze to the wall behind him. “...Should I have held the door for you? Sorry.”

Puffin was still in Sastrugi, but he took a lot of classes meant for Cornice trainees. The other trainees were just counting down the days to when Iceblink would promote him early to Cornice.

The blue IceWing rolled his eyes and looked away, pressing his lips into a thin line. “Whatever. What are you doing in the hallway? Class isn’t finished yet.”

_You’re the one who’s unreasonably late._

I didn’t say the words, but I held up the granite pass that I’d been given. I could feel Puffin’s eyes stabbing at the stone tablet, and then roaming over my face, but I refused to meet his gaze.

“Well, why don’t you go wherever it is that needs going to, then?” Puffin snapped.

I couldn't help myself. _“Somebody's_ guard dog asked what I was doing out here.”

“I have eyes. You can go,” he retorted, rolling his eyes again. “Unless you want my permission or something.”

I finally met his eyes again with a burning glare, but all I let out was a scoff before I set off down the hallway. Part of me felt embarrassed, and I felt the irrational urge to apologize, but I mostly just wanted to bite the IceWing’s head off.

“Citrine-” Puffin started.

I paused, turning my head just enough so that he was in my peripheral vision.

“...Whatever. Just go.”

_Three moons, stop wasting my time._   
_Why do I feel disappointed?_

He opened the classroom door and disappeared inside, and I made my way through the darkening hallway until I made it out to the assembly hall. The stone tablet in my hands seemed to grow heavy as I strode through the Compound, flying over the ice lake to the Firn suites - they were directly across from the regular trainee and graduate dorms.

Although the entrance to the wing was at ground level - a set of stairs between two intricate, abstract sculptures - the actual rooms were quite high, near the top of the mountain. A few balconies poked out above me before I ducked back into the shadows of the stairway, letting my mind wander as I jogged up the spiraling stairwell. Finally, I reached the top of the stairs, pushing my way past two polished wooden doors, carved with the carefully detailed design of an elk’s antlers. Striding through the colorful, extravagant entranceway, the sheer amount of luxury hit me like a slap to the face in comparison to the lifeless, overused dorms the trainees and graduates used below. Here, everything shone with newness, the couches and ottomans of the Commons were plush and lined with gold thread and expensive fur, and fragile silvery sconces lined the hallways.

One glance out the huge, stained-glass windows emphasized how detached Firn was from the rest of the Compound. From any of the rooms here, you could see the whole mountain and beyond. The halls here bled wealth and power. These rooms were only for those with nearly legendary status - Leader Iceblink and the founders of the Compound, as well as the handful that had bowed and scraped and sacrificed enough to spend their days drowned in her jewels.

What did anyone even do up here? It felt like stepping into another world - a painless world without hard decisions and responsibility, where a dragon could put away all their doubts and cut themselves off from the suffering carried by everyone else. This far removed from the rest of the world, who would ever need empathy?

At the end of the hallway, almost hidden by the shadows, there was a door that looked different than the others. Instead of the pale cedar that every other door sported, the one at the end of the hallway was rich, warm mahogany. An intricate pattern was carved in bas relief into the wood - when I squinted, it looked like a blazing sun.

I didn’t know why my eyes lingered for so long there - it wasn’t my destination, and after a moment, I turned away.

Leader Iceblink’s office was almost directly next to the commons, clearly to prevent trainee visitors from wandering too far into the Compound’s most luxurious rooms. There was also a lot of confidential information up here. She held a file on every dragon who’d spent any amount of time in the Rift, an article on any event that had happened in the last twenty years both in and out of the Ice Kingdom, and scrolls filled with history and academics that teachers below wouldn’t dare to touch. Rumors were that it was all kept in a giant library hidden from the view of the trainees, but to me, a giant safe seemed more likely.

_I wonder how many secrets Leader Iceblink hides behind these doors. If I looked hard enough, would I find them?_   
_Everyone has at least one thing they don’t want other dragons to know about them. So who’s the Iceblink behind the Iceblink she puts on to wear for us every day? Is she any better...or any worse?_

I stood in front of the office door, knocking on the decorative wood. It was several long seconds before the door creaked open, and I finally faced a dragon - not Iceblink, but Aurora, the Trainee Overseer.

The elderly IceWing dragged the heavy door open the rest of the way, extending an arm to invite me in. She pointed at a small woven mat in front of a wooden desk. “Sit.” 

Behind the desk was a familiar white wraith, cloaked in shadows and adorned with only the bottomless cold of her blue eyes. Around her, all of the light in the world seemed to fade away, leaving only the hollow darkness to cling to her scales in an eldritch halo. Every step I took towards the desk seemed like another step towards an invisible guillotine, but I managed to drag my leaden feet onto the mat and sit down without shaking.

Iceblink met my gaze, and her eyes seemed to slice through to my core. Although she was looking at me, it was as if she saw completely through me - as if she could somehow see all the tiny bits and pieces that made me who I was and rearrange them with her stare until she twisted up whatever I was into something else entirely. I dragged my eyes away from hers, focusing instead on the shadow behind her, even though it felt like I was admitting some small defeat.

I didn’t know why, but sometimes, even looking at Iceblink’s shadow made me sick. Something about it made me instinctively want to look away. It was like looking into a bottomless hole of blackness without having wings to fly, like stepping into it would take me on a fall into oblivion. Iceblink’s shadow looked like an oil spill - almost as if it would be greasy to the touch, it seemed to fit in with the rest of the world as well as oil mixed with water. Usually, her shadow was as ordinary as any other, but at moments like these, it made my scales crawl.

But as much as I wanted to bury her shadow forever, I wanted to bury her body more. I studied the IceWing dragoness, returning her gaze again and refusing to back down.

_I will kill you._   
_This is not just a threat, it’s a promise._   
_Sunstone died at your claws, and you will die at mine._   
_One day, I’m going to shred your wings to white ribbons so that you can’t fly away from me. One day, I’m going to break each of your legs with my bare claws so that you won’t be able to run away again. One day, I’ll rip out each of your talons to remind you how helpless Sunstone was against you, and then I’ll crush your eyes inside of your skull for all the ways you blinded us to your true colors._   
_Your brain will be turned to soup by my fire from all of your lies and deceit, and I’ll listen to you scream like I did in that cell until you know what it’s like to be nothing and mean nothing to anyone. I’ll take your voice away like you stole away ours by slitting your throat so that no one will ever hear your crooked lies and excuses._   
_You broke our hearts, so I’ll rip out yours and tear it in half and burn it above the flames of your ruined body that I set on fire and feed the remains to all the mindless dragons here that worship you, and when they’re done, I swear by the moons if there’s anything left of you I’ll-_

“You seem upset, Citrine.” Iceblink’s voice was calm, coated with the illusion of concern.

I blinked, realizing that the corner of my mouth had just started to edge its way downwards. Ducking my head, I tried to relax. “My apologies; I’m doing well. Why have I been summoned today?”

Leader Iceblink narrowed her eyes at Aurora. “Care to explain to my trainee?”

_I’m not your anything. I don’t belong to you._   
_I will kill you._   
_This is not just a threat, it’s a-_

Aurora cleared her throat. “Citrine, your failures to complete the cross-rank project have come to our attention. Although many other partnerships weren’t able to meet the assigned quota, you and Saxifrage were the only ones who returned empty-clawed. Naturally, the failure has dramatically decreased your current rank within Cornice - enough that it puts your graduation at risk.” She glanced at the monster standing next to her. “Leader Iceblink is ever so kind as to offer you a makeup project.”

Iceblink smiled grimly. “Indeed, Aurora. Indeed. So, Citrine, I’m generously offering you the chance to get full credit covering your failed project by updating the maps of the abandoned village Crystallofolia. It’s been three years since the last revision, so a newer, more accurate version would be appreciated.”

_Why pick a project like this? It has nothing to do with hunting._   
_And why does Crystallofolia sound familiar?_

Aurora tilted her head. “So, what do you say, Citrine? This is not such a hard assignment, especially for someone with your talents. I have seen the sketches you make occasionally in the corners of assignments - you are not such a bad artist.” The old IceWing smiled knowingly.

Most of the doodles I drew involved a certain IceWing screaming in the throes of death. I’d had no idea that anyone as important as Aurora saw them - how did I know that Iceblink didn’t look at them, too? I’d have to be more careful.

“Oh, Citrine draws?” Iceblink mused, seeming genuinely surprised. “How interesting. I’ll add cartography to a list of possible graduation assignments for him. Still...it’d be a waste.” Iceblink’s cutting gaze went dark, and I wondered if Aurora was trying to do me a favor by bringing up my hobbies.

Aurora smiled. “Will you do the makeup project, Citrine?”

_Something tells me I can’t exactly say no._

I stood up from the mat, meeting Iceblink’s eyes for the last time. “I’ll do it.” 

The pair of IceWings gave me a dismissive nod, and I stood up to leave, eager to leave Firn and escape its inhabitants, but Aurora raised a talon to tell me to stop. “We can only be fair. Your previous SkyWing partner will be working with you this time as well - we’ve already spoken to her, and she’s waiting by the lake with all of your supplies. Best of luck, Citrine.”

I nodded and strode over to the door, twisting the knob and dragging it open just a crack, but I froze as cold talons curled around my shoulder.

“By the way.” Icy breath condensed on the back of my neck, and I could feel glacial eyes drilling into my skull. “This is not an opportunity I extend often for just anyone. If you return empty-clawed again… Do not disappoint me.”

Iceblink’s freezing talons slipped away from my scales, and I disappeared through the door, letting it close slowly behind me. The lock clicked in place with a hollow, final sound, and I pressed my back to the opposite wall as I sank to the ground, trembling and gasping for breath as if I’d almost drowned. I didn’t know how I’d managed to hold it together.

_Why are they really giving me this second chance? They never make excuses or opportunities for anyone. Ever. So why me? And Saxifrage, too?_   
_Are they looking for evidence that we might be together? Even though I don’t see her like that, would that ever stop Iceblink from painting the picture she wants to see?_   
_I…_   
_I can’t like Saxifrage. Not even as a friend. She’ll be in too much danger, and too many eyes would be watching, and she wouldn’t know how to bear the weight of it._   
_She’s the kind of dragoness that needs freedom to survive. How can I take that from her? What if I became her friend, only to watch her learn to hate me like Puffin did? Or worse, end up like Sunstone?_

I stormed out through the commons and down the infinite stairs, taking flight towards the dorms across the lake and soaring over the figure of a familiar white, ruby-eyed dragoness who immediately launched into the air to follow me. She called my name, and I snarled furiously, shoving down the tears that threatened to well up in my eyes.

_I have to push her away._   
_We shouldn’t be friends. I should end this before it begins, for both our sakes. Another dragon can’t get hurt because of me._   
_I wish I didn’t give up so easily. I wish I wasn’t a coward. I wish I wasn’t so pathetically lonely, and I wish I didn’t want to belong in that bright sunlight that always seems to spill out of her._   
_I wish that killing Iceblink would be enough._   
_Why does it always end like this? Why can’t I change?_

Throwing open my dorm room’s door, I flung my things onto the stone ledge where I slept and spun around, heading back out the door to go back to the lake. I slammed into a dragon as I ran into the commons, and I stumbled back, reeling. Ruby eyes blinked up at me, and I sighed - it was Saxifrage. 

I was still glad to see her, and I hated it. Hopefully she couldn’t see how watery my eyes were. “You didn’t have to follow me. I was just putting my stuff away.”

Saxifrage shrugged, tilting her head at me. “We’re friends after all. You told me it was practically my job to follow you around everywhere when we were still in the infirmary. Plus, it’s chilly outside.”

I grimaced. Why had I told her that in the medical wing? It was so easy to let go of all my worries around her and pretend that everything was going to be fine. Next to Saxifrage, all of Iceblink’s weighted stares lost their hidden meanings, and the thoughts that always tormented me seemed to ebb away like the tide going out at sea. Looking at her hopeful face, there was no way that I could weed her out from however she'd managed to grow on me. It was dangerous, and euphoric, and I already knew I was going to brush away my anxieties like I’d been doing for the few days since our stay in the infirmary.

_There are going to be so many consequences._   
_But I kind of don’t care right now._

“It’ll be summer soon, so it’ll warm up a little more,” I said, patting her shoulder. “Let’s go do this project. You know we’re not getting off the hook so easily next time.”

“Well, I know I’m looking forward to hotter days.” She grinned, her smile warmer than the sun could ever be, and I wondered what else I could say to make her look at me like that again.

“Me too. Do you have the scrolls and mapping materials?” I asked. 

Saxifrage nodded, holding up a worn-out leather satchel, and we descended down the stairwell, walking out to the lake. Once we were in the chilly sunlight, she opened up the satchel and pulled out an old map of the Rift.

“Aurora circled the location of Crystallofolia here,” she told me, handing me the faded map. “It’s in the southeast and pretty close to the Obsidian Cliff, located in an area with a lot of unique rock formations called the Stone Claws. I think it’s a couple hours away - all we need to do is just redraw a map of the village. The old village map is in this satchel too, for reference.”

“Looks like we’ll be back by lunch tomorrow. Let’s go.”

Saxifrage stuffed the parchment back into her bag and leaped into the air, banking southeast as a warm updraft pushed her up into the sky. I followed her billowing wings, soaring over her and watching her fly from several tail-lengths above. The lightning scars lining the edges of her right wing swirled through its membrane, dotted with flecks of charred black but mostly patterned a sore, fresh pink. Her body trembled with the effort it took to keep her balance as she attempted to glide through the air.

_She probably hasn’t had a chance to fly since the incident. I can’t blame her for being slow this time._

I fell through the air lazily to her level, flying at Saxifrage’s pace next to her. The tips of our wings brushed slightly, but I didn’t pull away.

_What am I doing?_

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. “Are you feeling alright?”

She nodded, expression stony, refusing to say a word of complaint. But she was still shaking, and her chest heaved with labored breaths.

_You’re so headstrong._

“Let me know if you need a break.” I nodded at the grassy foothills below. “You’re still injured, so don’t strain yourself. Iceblink didn’t give us a strict time limit.”

Saxifrage glared at me. “It’s my fault we failed the project. I’m not as weak as you think I am.” She coughed a plume of flame into the air. “I don’t need a _break.”_

I snorted and turned my gaze back towards the horizon, hiding the smirk on my lips. “You’re not weak, Saxifrage. And it wasn’t your fault.”

The memory of a destroyed amber pendant and icy talons pinning me to dark stone flashed through my mind, dragging back the despair and resentment I thought I’d leave behind for a few precious hours. I couldn’t tell whether the scream in my thoughts was Sunstone’s or my own.

_I’m the weak one here, not you._   
_You’re the one who takes real responsibility. You’re the one who knows how to let go, but you still haven’t forgotten how to dream._   
_I wish I was more like you._

Our wings brushed again in mid-flight, and I spoke quietly. “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re weak, Saxifrage. Not even yourself. Fight until the end, even if it isn’t a happy one.” I met her eyes. “Promise me that.”

_What am I saying?_   
_I’m supposed to push her away, not push her closer to breaking even more rules. I shouldn’t feed into her empty dreams, no matter how alluring and idyllic they are._   
_But her life is still her own. She hasn’t fallen prey to Iceblink’s illusions of meaningless status and grandeur, and that’s...pretty impressive._

I continued to hold her gaze. “Promise me you won’t give in.”

In the corner of my eye, I could see towers of stone rising out of the earth, sculpted by wind and storms. The Stone Claws - and somewhere in the maze of rock was Crystallofolia. It looked eerily familiar, draped in clouds and mist and something a little darker and sadder.

Saxifrage smiled back at me, as if she sort of understood what I was actually trying to say. “I promise. There’s more out there than the Rift; I know there is. I’m going to see the world one day,” she exclaimed, going off on a tangent. “You know what I always wanted to be when I was little? An explorer who’d write down and draw all the interesting things I’d discover, but I was just never good at drawing. Hey, aren’t you good at drawing? Three moons, it’s decided. I’m going to escape this place and I’m going to take you with me! We’d be the best explorer-artist team ever!”

The SkyWing dragoness continued to ramble about nothing in particular, and I let her words fade into the background. The halcyon fantasy put a smile on my lips.

Because that was all it was - a fantasy. Leaving the Rift wasn’t that simple. No one had ever done it before. Iceblink would never let us, and there were more important things I still needed to do. I’d worked so hard to get to Cornice, and now, I was so close to graduating. So close to the vengeance that I’d spent five years wasting away for.

The rest of the world walked on its bright, wide road towards the eastern horizon. The future was clear-cut as a gem for them, close enough to touch, and simple and sturdy enough that it couldn’t crumble to dust in their talons. But I knew I walked a narrow path that took me not towards the sun, but downwards to a shrouded end that I’d never been able to see. It wasn’t my place to ask anyone else to walk with me. It would be even more out of line for me to scrape and fight my way onto that bright road with everyone else.

I’d told Saxifrage that wishes were empty; that most were destined to burn out before being answered. But they were still a nice fantasy, and I liked listening to Saxifrage dream. Maybe if she dreamed hard enough, those dreams would come true.

That was my little wish.


	34. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally done with school, so hopefully I'll post more regularly from here on out. this one's a new POV chapter for our blue boy :) i'm also considering revising the tags and blurb for this, so that's a heads up in case they change a bit
> 
> on a more serious note, there's a lot going on right now and i hope everyone is doing okay. if you're in the US like me and can't actively participate in the protests that are happening or donate, here are some petitions: https://www.change.org/t/black-lives-matter-en-us
> 
> every one of us is important, but right now we need to do whatever we can to raise up those who have been forced to grow up disadvantaged, and work together to fix the problems in our police forces (because yes, they do exist, and they've been ignored for far too long). stay safe.

~Luminescent~

I’d crashed into someone else’s life last night, and the fact that I was right back at the scene so soon was breathtakingly stupid. Didn’t I know better? Weaving between the rules and cheating my way into situations other dragons could only dream of was my life outside of my studies, but I wasn’t a troublemaker - at least, not for myself, usually. Standing outside the passageway that led to wherever Sunstone came and left from, though, I couldn’t exactly convince myself of any innocence.

_‘Sunstone.’_

During free rec, I’d taken a peek at the rosters for all the classrooms while everyone else drifted elsewhere, and sure enough, there weren’t any trainees named Sunstone. There was no way that he was a graduate, he didn’t wear the lace collar that the servants of the Compound bore, and he definitely didn’t have the aura of danger and pay-attention-or-I’ll-pay-attention-to-you that anyone important radiated. And yet, he’d said that he lived in Firn.

Nothing about him made sense to me.

Sunstone was one of the few dragons I could recall that didn’t have the toned muscle and hard edges of the trainees our age, instead being all soft curves with the healthy glow of someone who’d never known what it was like to miss a meal. His movements were all quiet elegance, his words sounded like they’d been carefully chosen out of a dictionary but still impulsively blurted, and his voice was embroidered with warmth. There was an openness in the golden dragon’s expression - an unguarded light in his eyes and smile that had long since been snuffed out inside of all the other dragons I’d met.

What a freak. Alien, even. Everything about Sunstone screamed ‘bad news’ and ‘good time’ all at once, and I could _not_ stop thinking about him.

The only thing I could confidently brand Sunstone with was that he was a secret. And given the few times he’d mentioned Leader Iceblink in passing...he was her secret. But secrets that could walk around usually didn’t stay hidden for long - so of course it just had to be my luck that I ran into him. Just what exactly was I getting myself into?

I really didn’t want to see him again, but he’d told me to meet him here tonight, and I had a million burning questions to ask. Curiosity was definitely going to kill the cat, but hopefully it’d be later rather than sooner. After all, even if I doubted that he’d sell me out to Iceblink, I had to show up just to be sure. There really wasn’t any other reason.

I shifted on my talons, watching the passageway and becoming more irritated with each second that it didn’t shift downwards to reveal my bumbling, mysterious tourist. It was well past midnight - Sunstone had said that we’d meet then, but it was starting to look like I’d been ghosted. There wasn’t anything to keep me company except a few adventurous spiders, which I promptly squished, and the sound of dripping water from the stalactites overhead.

Another minute passed, and my mouth twitched downwards.

_Why won’t he show up when he organized this disaster of a rendezvouz himself? Here I was, starting to look forward to this whole mess._  
_Well, I’m not disappointed. That’s less troublemaking for me to do if he doesn’t show. I’m going to get a good night’s sleep and not think about his stupid face. Three moons, are those red freckles everywhere? I just want to wipe them off, ugh._

Despite the internal banter I tried to keep up with myself, I couldn’t ignore the yawning pit of nervousness in my stomach. There had to be a real reason that Sunstone wasn’t showing up. I wasn’t standing in front of his passageway like a fool for no reason. The dripping of water seemed to echo louder in my ears, and my thoughts crowded in my head.

_He’s sold you out to Iceblink anyway. He was going to do it from the beginning; he only lured you here now so that you’ll be easy to catch. Is there anyone down that tunnel-_  
_No, it’s empty. I’m alone. Right? Sunstone isn’t the type to do that, right? I didn’t peg him as the smiling manipulator._  
_But what if there really is something behind that smiling face? He seems friendly with Iceblink. Is he another one of her dogs? Then why not hide him plain sight with the rest of the trainees? What is he?_  
_Did something happen to him? Maybe Iceblink found out about us meeting, and she’s punished him instead of coming after me._

The thought of that innocent-looking dragon suffering turned my stomach with nauseating terror, and every nerve in my body told me to run before Iceblink could catch me too. An odd kind of guilt-laced fear settled over my mind in a haze, and I stumbled away from the passageway I’d been waiting in front of for so long. I couldn’t stay here anymore.

Even though some tiny part of my mind screamed at me not to go, I turned away and disappeared into the closest tunnel, leaving Sunstone’s passageway behind. Cold stone walls closed in around me with a familiar feeling of claustrophobia, and my mind raced as I tried to figure out where I was going. Glancing to my right, I spotted the tunnel I needed, and I ducked inside, taking a winding flight of stairs downwards until I reached another tunnel that curved out of sight.

Here, lower in the Compound, the complexity of the catacombs multiplied by what would feel like tenfold to a new visitor. New branches and connecting corridors interlaced the largest tunnels in the most disorienting way, flights of stairs would take you upwards and then right back down to where you started, and passageways like the one Sunstone came through could take you almost anywhere - the assembly hall, classrooms, even a few dorm rooms. Luckily, I could see in the dark, thanks to my SeaWing father, and my sense of direction never failed me.

I knew where I needed to go now, so I made my way over to another short flight of stairs leading upwards into darkness - but I paused as I glanced at the passageway to my left. It was a smaller one that led into the back of one of the Sastrugi classroom’s walk-in closets. I’d used it often before I graduated to Cornice, but it looked like this trapdoor hadn’t escaped the graduates’ project to seal off all the entrances and exits of the Compound.

It didn’t take me long to grab my knife and drive it into the plaster around the passageway’s edges, wiggling until it slipped into the crack that separated the trapdoor from the wall. Pushing downwards, I sliced through the seal with a crunch, repeating the action on all four sides until the passageway was freed. Just to be sure, I pulled and pushed the trapdoor open and shut to make sure it worked before I finally sheathed the knife in place on my forearm.

I didn’t know the reason why the graduates were being told to seal away the catacombs, and I wasn’t planning to ask. I just knew that I wasn’t going to do nothing and lose access to the only place I truly felt safe in the Compound. Plus, they made skipping classes and getting to the mess hall before anyone else so much easier, and there was no way I was going to stand idly by while something so convenient was taken away from me.

Part of me knew this would draw attention from the wrong dragons. If someone important started asking questions, I wouldn’t have anywhere to run. But nobody had caught me using the catacombs in over two years, and I could cover up a lie or two. Even so, the ball of anxiety in my core was wound up tighter than usual, and I felt like I was teetering on an edge I couldn’t see.

I half ran, half staggered up the stairs and through the catacombs to where I knew I’d find that little opening of safety. I just needed fresh air; just needed time to clear my thoughts before my mind got all tangled up and I stopped thinking completely. There was a headache starting to form around my skull, pressing in around me like a halo made of steel.

_What if he really is hurt? Iceblink doesn’t have limits; she’ll do anything. It’s better for me to stay out of the way like I was supposed to from the start._  
_There you go again, trying to shift the blame. Because you walked away, this is your responsibility now, too._  
_Coward._

My head throbbed harder, and I picked up the pace as sparks started to fly in my vision. I was almost there, almost there, but the thoughts in my head were flooding outwards, pushing against my skull from the inside in a tsunami that had nowhere to go.

_You always run. Is that all you’re good for? Can you do anything besides lie, cheat, and steal? When will you stop putting your own comfort above everyone else’s safety?_  
_At this rate, things will turn out exactly like they did three years ago._  
_At this rate, another dragon is going to disappear from the world because of my inaction._  
_At this rate… Brinicle would be so disappointed. I haven’t changed at all, have I?_

The ache in my head exploded into a cacophony of pounding drums and thunder, and my migraine took over as I finally stumbled out onto a moonlit ledge on the slope of the Compound, hidden by a rock overhang and the shadow of the eastern guard tower not far away. I’d discovered this place not long after I’d discovered the catacombs two years ago, and since then, I always came when I didn’t have space to think or my headaches got too bad - when my mind raced too far ahead for my body to keep up, this tiny bit of seclusion could always wind me back down. I closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead and breathing deeply.

_Don’t think about her. It won’t change anything._  
_Don’t think about her. Don’t think. Let go._  
_You can’t remember, anyway._

My talons drifted to the silver earring hooked on my right ear, rubbing over the patterns of coral branches and caribou antlers. It used to belong to Brinicle, and she would wear it all the time - the only gift that Brinicle had ever given me, but she was already gone by the time I received it when I woke up that day in the infirmary.

My life was a blurry, patchwork quilt of memories, and it was filled with gaping holes. Most things I could remember, but in some places, there were just empty voids. Little funnels of darkness, sucking away any memory of what they’d been to someplace far away, buried too deep inside for me to remember. Even the images of the dragons I loved were starting to fade in my mind with age. Mother and Father had long since melted to pearly white and stormy blue silhouettes, and the sister who’d fought alongside me for so long was starting to grow fuzzy against the wall of sunshine that was always at her back in my memories.

Brinicle was five years older than I was; my sister, protector, and soldier. While I was shy and near-silent as a trainee in Aufeis, she’d exuded her righteous rage and hopeless injustice from every step forward. When the older trainees pushed me around and I stayed quiet, she roared, and when the teachers tried to stop her antics, she stood her ground and picked a fight with them instead. Like Sunstone, she was a freak inside the Compound’s machine, but for the opposite reasons. While Sunstone stood out to me because of his innocence, Brinicle was more rough around the edges than any trainee before her. There hadn't been anyone who could keep her in check - not even Iceblink.

My older sister had gotten the best of our convoluted ancestry - frostbreath, enough glow-in-the-dark scales to speak broken Aquatic, night vision, claws like jagged knives, cold resistance… Nothing could have stopped Brinicle and her rebellion in the entire world, and no punishment had ever lowered the spirit she possessed for her war against Iceblink’s system.

If it weren’t for the color of my scales, I’d pass completely as a SeaWing. Back then, I’d been so weak, too; underfed like every other dragonet and weary with each demanding training exercise. It was Brinicle who’d put a wall between us and the worst of the Compound, and she’d risked more to protect me and love me than any other family I’d had.

But then she'd disappeared.

Three years ago, we’d still been at each others’ sides, enraging our teachers, trying to rally our peers, and demanding answers. But all of my missing memories coalesced to a point where an entire twenty-four hours escaped my grasp, and after that day… Brinicle was erased from the narrative.

Somehow, in that short amount of time, the dragon I’d loved most had just vanished. Whenever I tried to remember what had happened, there was nothing but eerie blankness - not even an emotion, just steady emptiness like the gray of the walls or floor. A void swallowed my mind for an entire day, and then my timeline started unbroken with a brief memory of confusion and hurt as I woke up inside the infirmary.

Maybe that was why I’d been so quick to agree to Sunstone’s requests. We were worlds apart, really, but his frustration with his naivety had felt so familiar. He knew nothing but he still demanded information, and while that opportunity was probably something I’d never get with my amnesia, I wouldn’t refuse it to him to find out the truth. Besides, how could I say no to that smile?

My migraine finally started to recede, and I looked upwards to study the moons. One of them was full, and the other two had started to wane. Around them in the black sky hung silver stars, glittering every now and then, and beneath them was the faint outline of the mountains. It was still dark, and the moonlight didn’t illuminate that much, but the summer air was warm and sweet. A smile stole its way onto my face. The situation really wasn’t so bad; I just needed to be careful. Overreacting and overcompensating would land me in more hot water than anything.

I doubted that Sunstone would show up now, even with all of his questions, but I had my own things that I was curious about too. Why was he in Firn? What did he do? What kind of food was he eating to look as healthy as he did, and where could I get some of it? Although I wanted nothing more than to barge in and interrogate him among other things, there’d be plenty of time for that in the future. I’d even give him the information he wanted, since he didn’t seem like a shady guy - I just needed to lie low.

_He won’t meet me tonight, but it won’t hurt to swing back around that way on my way back, just in case._

I rose to my claws, shaking out my white wings and turning away from the moonlit skies to make my way back into the catacombs, eyes slowly adjusting to the pitch black-

Someone was standing in the tunnel, cloaked in shadows, watching me.

I didn’t recognize them in the dark, but their hulking figure swallowed up any chance I had of slipping past, and they radiated a cold, ironclad authority. My heart pounded so hard in my chest that I started to feel lightheaded. That wasn’t who I thought it was, this wasn’t happening, this was just a nightmare, but…

The figure in the dark stepped forward, revealing jagged white talons, and the moonlight caught in their eyes, illuminating a penetrating gaze that was glacial blue yet colder than ice. They stared at me, through me, slicing up my identity and sorting the fragments into categories I didn’t want to know.

Deciding that I still valued my life, I said nothing.

After a short eternity, Leader Iceblink fully stepped out onto the hidden platform, holding my gaze the entire time. Her white wings filled the small space, and I started to feel very small. Although she did nothing, I was frozen to the floor, shivering.

“Good...night, Luminescent. Cornice trainee, dorm C-7, ranked forty-three out of ninety-one trainees in your class. By all accounts, an unremarkably average trainee,” Iceblink said calmly. Although her voice was almost soft, frost crackled over her words. “Or so I thought. For your sake, I hope you can explain yourself properly.”

_How did you find me? Did Sunstone really sell me out? Is that why he didn’t show up tonight? Am I that stupid?_  
_I’m about to be a dead dragon. I’m going to be executed. No, I’m already dead and I just haven’t realized it yet._

“I-I’m sorry, there’s a misunderstanding. I’m not sure what this place is. I was outside for an assignment for one of my classes, but stayed out too long and missed the curfew.” I tried to rip my gaze away from the IceWing dragoness, but I couldn’t. “I...I’m only here on accident because I didn’t want to get caught by the night guards and get in trouble for missing the curfew. I’m sorry. I should’ve just taken the punishment, Leader Iceblink.”

“I’m sure you’re sorry,” Iceblink said. “Quite the unlucky accident, isn’t it? Neither of us were supposed to run into each other tonight. I suppose I could let it slide for once...but you’re apologizing for the wrong reasons.”

My blood ran cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“I seem to recall something about dishonesty in the Sacred Five,” Iceblink said, shutting me up. “I’m here personally tonight because _someone_ has been obstructing progress on my graduates’ project to seal off these tunnels you’ve _accidentally_ found. I imagine that you know quite a bit about that, don’t you?”

“I...I, um-”

“If that’s not enough to jog your memory, someone was defacing the plaster on a passageway leading to a Sastrugi passageway about fifteen minutes ago.”

So she’d been following me for that long? There wasn’t anything I could say to save myself, then. “I’m sorry.”

Iceblink watched me for a long moment before she sighed. “I suppose I should congratulate you for making it this far into the woodwork without anyone noticing. There’s no doubt you’ve known about these passageways for a long time, with the quick work you make of ruining the graduates’ projects every night. It’s a shame that you’ve used this knowledge to follow in your sister’s clawsteps, however.”

“I don’t have any excuse. I’ll take whatever punishment you insist,” I offered up. If lying wasn’t going to save me, then maybe half-hearted diplomacy would.

“Looks like you’re smarter than Brinicle was, then. Normally, I would have you silenced, but I have a unique opportunity for you. A job offer, you could say, well-suited for someone with your...talents,” said the IceWing leader.

Well, I’d take anything over death. “What is it?”

“Are you aware of a dragon named Sunstone? Eight years old, a SandWing-SkyWing hybrid male, pale gold scales and red freckles.” When Iceblink read the frozen horror on my face, the corners of her lips ever so slightly twitched downward on her face. “What a shame. I suspected that he’d start to wander, but not so early. Someone on the outside has been giving him scrolls and information he doesn’t need.”

I hesitated. “Do you want me to find out who it is?”

_Why would Iceblink care so much about Sunstone? What’s his purpose? Who else knows about him?_

“Yes. Find them and report them to me, and you won’t need to worry about the rest,” Iceblink spoke, words freezing over with lethal cold. “However, it’d be unfortunate if you turned out like your sister did, with all that wanton slander and treason, so I have something else for you to do to remind you to stay on track.”

“...Of course.”

“Sunstone is a curious dragon, but his inquisitiveness will get him in trouble if he goes on like this unsupervised. I’m sure the list of questions he has grows by the day, and I need someone to sate his hunger for answers. The situation right now is delicate. I can’t have him running around.” Iceblink reached out and held my claws in her own, the tips of her talons digging into my palms like nails. “Keep him distracted for me. Lead him away from any bitter truths - I won’t have him rebel. With your skills, you shouldn’t have any problem keeping him content to stay in his rooms. Do whatever you must.”

The possessive light in her glacial eyes was almost maniacal, and I shivered when I realized I’d never seen the IceWing emote so much or look as close as she did to frustrated desperation as she did now. What was it about Sunstone that made her so unstable? How could he be that important? If he was such a liability, why wouldn’t she just off him like she would any other dragon? More than ever, I wanted to investigate this new mystery, but at the same time, I wanted to run far, far away.

_You’re asking me to manipulate him like a puppet when I’m sure you’ve already been doing the same thing for however long he’s been stuck in Firn. Why do you have to drag me into your web of lies, too? What kind of punishment is this?_  
_I wanted to meet Sunstone again to do the exact opposite of what you’re asking. I wanted to give him the truth he was looking so desperately for. This isn’t something I can willingly do._  
_Lying, stealing, digging up secrets… I can do anything that needs a silver tongue, but I never wanted to use those tools for something this crooked._

“I can’t do that,” I forced myself to say. My heart skipped a beat as the words started spilling out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stay silent. “I don’t want to write myself into your narrative. I don’t want to manipulate him. I bet he’s done nothing wrong in his life, but you’re asking me to mess up his reality and keep him isolated like he’s some kind of criminal.”

“Did I give you a choice?” Upon seeing my terrified, guilty face, Iceblink let out a sigh. “I won’t force you to work without pay.”

“There’s nothing you have that I want,” I said, suddenly doubtful.

“Think a little harder,” Iceblink said coldly. “I’m making a proposal I won’t offer again.”

_What could it be?_  
_Wait-_  
_No. No, there’s no way-_

I felt dizzy with the wave of horror, grief, and hope that crashed over me. “Brinicle went missing three years ago.”

“Your sister has been here all along, Luminescent. She was held in the dungeons beneath the Compound so that she could no longer disrupt the peace. Don’t look at me like that; I know mercy.” Leader Iceblink smiled grimly. “Tell no one about the catacombs and cease your troublemaking, find the mole who’s trying to uncover the truth to Sunstone, do whatever you must to keep Sunstone content in Firn, and upon your graduation, I will give you the key to Brinicle’s cell myself. As long as you can right your ways and return from the treacherous example your sister set, I think that will be enough.”

_Brinicle is alive. She’s right here. I never lost her._  
_She sacrificed everything to show me that I don’t have to bow my head to injustice. Now, I can finally repay her for all that she’s done for me._  
_One day, we can be partners in crime again. And this time, I won’t hide in the shadows behind your back._

I hated myself for what I was about to say, but there had never been any doubt in my mind once I was offered Brinicle’s release. It was too good to be true, but what did it matter if I stood on our oppressor’s side if it meant that I would see my sister again? Even the matter with Sunstone...maybe it was better for him to keep his youthful naivety and innocence. At the very least, I might be able to shield him from the cruel heartache of lifting the veil off the world he thought he knew. No one could do the right thing forever, and, well, I mostly only ever did the wrong things.

I met Leader Iceblink’s gaze, the words on my lips held within a fragile breath of righteousness and remorse. “I’ll do it.”


	35. Echoes and Storms ~ 3.11.5 ~ III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the last chapter of Arc III is here! I'll see you next week when Arc IV arrives :)

~XXXXXXXX~

Two days after the collapse of the Ice Cliff, the village was still in the dark. The town speaker hadn’t given us another word. Traveling officials and their soldiers and servants said nothing to describe the situation at the southern border. Even Queen Pinniped and all the royals in the Ice Palace were silent - we were offered neither misfortune nor hope, and in its place, the village filled itself with gnawing dread.

Even though life crawled on at the same brutal pace, there were changes, minute but enough to make my parents nervous. The focus of the dragons around us had shifted ever so slightly to preparation for something to happen, and within a day, non-perishable food, firewood, and ice to melt for drinking and bathing water had vanished from the markets. Some dragons tried to rebuild the houses that had been ruined from the aftershocks of the collapse, and others left to travel further north. The local harbor was bustling with fishermen trying to sell their last catches, while everyone else crowded around the message board and dragonets selling news-scrolls in the town square, hoping for a grain of information on the state of the kingdom.

The wandering merchants and hunters that stopped by every few days had missed the arrival they’d scheduled for yesterday. They’d been the cheapest suppliers of meat, herbs, and foraged vegetables, so my mother Wintergreen had been one of their regulars, along with most of the sixth and seventh circle residents of the slums. But now there was nothing to eat, and the tiny handful of coins sat unspent in the center of the table, too little to buy anything that could sustain us but large enough to taunt us. I wasn’t sure if the nauseous, empty feeling in my stomach was from fear or pure hunger.

I sat with my parents around the table, watching the sunset through the window. Even though our bowls were empty, my mother had insisted on all of us being present for dinnertime, but there was no food to fill our bellies and no sentences to fill our thoughts. Nothing but strained silence filled the air between us as we searched for words to say, but we found nothing, and eventually, my father just sighed and left his seat to help one of our neighbors fix his home.

I got up to help him, but my mother’s claws slammed onto the table.

“No,” she snapped, glowering at me. “You stay here. I’ll do it myself.”

I could feel a dozen sharp retorts already forming in my mouth, but Wintergreen walked out the door and slammed it behind her before I could argue. It rattled on its loose hinges, and I stifled the scream I wanted to let out, forcing myself to calm the electrified nerves in my body before I lost my composure.

My mother was still angry with me for ruining the toys we’d carved so diligently. Although my father had vocally forgiven me, I could still feel his disappointment. Money had been tight before, but it was constricted into a vise now. No one wanted to spend money on pretty trinkets and artwork when it felt like the world was about to end.

Maybe if I’d been more careful back then, we’d have the money to stockpile and prepare for disaster like everyone in the circles above us was. But there was nothing that could be done except wait and hope that the collapse of the Ice Cliff would be the NightWings’ first and last offense, so I just crawled under the thin fur blanket and tried to sleep.

A few hours later, long after my parents had returned from the neighbor’s and only a few minutes to midnight, the steady, percussive beat of a drum echoed through the village from the town square. My stomach lurched as I staggered to my claws, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The drum was used to call a village assembly, but only during wartime or another emergency.

_Things aren’t going to get better, are they?_  
_I don’t think this is going to be the information that anyone wants to hear._

My parents dragged me out the door, and soon, we were all outside, flying towards the town square. I watched them closely, but my father’s face was the same unbothered calm as ever, and my mother’s expression was hidden behind a carefully guarded glare.

_What’s going to happen to us now?_

Before long, we’d made it to the village square. The winter night was chilly, but the cold emanating off the IceWings made the temperature drop even further. A few hundred dragons were cramped together on the cobblestones, crowded against the podium and staring desperately at the town speaker. She was the same regal IceWing from the last assembly, and she hollered for silence as the last clusters of dragons landed in the streets. It didn’t take long. Within seconds, the whole town was eerily quiet, hanging on to the speaker’s every word.

_Ever since the Ice Cliff fell...we’ve been so afraid._  
_Afraid of the economy that’s already started to crumble. Afraid of Icefall and the NightWings from the south. Afraid of our own shadows._  
_How could an entire tribe go from prideful to terrorized in a matter of days? Even the nobles haven’t shown their faces since. So what happened for them to finally emerge and give us a message?_

The speaker’s necklace clinked like bells, the two circles hanging from it glimmering in the faint moonlight before clouds swept across the sky. “I apologize for calling everyone outside at such an hour. Please remain calm, and listen closely to what I am about to say. The information I have to give tonight is the truth and nothing but the truth. Again, I ask that you all remain calm.”

Nobody said a word, but all the dragons seemed to shrink slightly.

“Two days ago, the Ice Cliff collapsed. It was our first line of defense. The culprit has been confirmed to be none other than Emperor Icefall of the NightWings, after he released statements to the public claiming responsibility by using animus magic to override the Cliff’s enchantments and destroy it. This is a direct attack to the Kingdom of Ice, and Queen Pinniped and the royal court are doing what they can to respond appropriately. A state of war has not been declared. I’ll take more questions later.

“For once, our mighty Kingdom must sacrifice its pride. We are not going to war with the NightWings at this point in time because domestic problems have recently been brought to our attention. This is the second reason why I’ve called an assembly tonight, and the most important, so please listen carefully. Please remain calm.” 

A cacophony of whispers rose up in protest, but the speaker beat against the drum until the crowd fell back into an acceptable level of quiet. The IceWing dragoness resumed her speech.

“Yesterday, in the village of Crystallofolia, a new disease was documented by an apothecary that reported the incident to royal scouts and messengers. The infected dragon was a fourth-circle merchant with a wife and three dragonets. The apothecary reported that the patient had gone mad, after an onset of extreme fatigue, muscle pain, fever and chills, loss of coordination, incoherent speech, psychotic delusions, and aggressive behavior. After an hour, the patient’s aggression became so severe that the apothecary called for restraints. The restraints weren’t delivered in a timely manner, and the patient escaped, injuring the apothecary and attacking several dragons as he fled. Including the apothecary, twenty were injured, and three were killed. The patient was found dead on the outskirts of Crystallofolia, bleeding from the ears, nose, and mouth.

“Within the next hour, half of the injured dragons were exhibiting the same symptoms, including others that had no connection to the patient. By the time the apothecary came in contact with our messengers, he had fallen ill as well. He locked himself in his office, and was found dead the next morning.” The speaker’s voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. “This disease is highly contagious. Doctors suspect that it’s both airborne and bloodborne. A quarantine on the village of Crystallofolia has been ordered by Queen Pinniped. If you have family there, do not attempt to make contact. We have no information about who is most at risk or how long this disease has lain dormant. From this point forward, everyone must stay within the village. Do not leave. Do not welcome travelers or refugees. If the disease is reported outside of Crystallofolia and an epidemic occurs, more instructions will be given by the Queen.”

My wings started to tremble, and I felt my father grasp my shoulder reassuringly. Even my mother intertwined her talons with mine. The three of us huddled close together as the tension that hung over us reached its breaking point and the dragons around us started to roar questions.

Once again, the speaker beat the drum until silence and spoke, voice deceivingly calm. I realized she was the only thing keeping us together right now, with her stubborn fearlessness and placid expression. “If you see anyone with the symptoms I’ve listed, do not engage. Do not touch them, and do not offer your own help. Contact our local doctors instead, and they will take care of the patient. There is no official mortality rate. There is no one to report the number of infected or dead in Crystallofolia. No survivors have been documented as of today. Be aware that this could be another one of Emperor Icefall’s attacks wielding animus magic. We are unsure of the situation outside of the Kingdom or if other tribes are experiencing the same disease.”

_That sensation I felt the other night; the ripple through my soul…_  
_Is this the result? Where will the NightWings stop?_  
_With animus magic, where will Icefall stop?_

A small dragoness wearing a rusted iron gauntlet on her left forearm spiraled erratically downwards from the air above, landing roughly next to the speaker and whispering in her ear urgently. The messenger shook like a leaf, tears spilling over her cheeks. The village speaker’s eyes had gone wide with horror. 

“Listen closely. This is now an epidemic,” she shouted over the crowd, voice trembling. Her carefully practiced composure was starting to slip. “Penitentes is the closest city to report an infection among three others. For those unaware, Penitentes is an hour’s flight east-southeast. I repeat, this is now an epidemic. All communities are to go into complete plague lockdown. This is a declaration from our Queen Pinniped and her court. All dragons must retreat to their homes and stay there until further notice. Do not venture outside and do not flee the village for any reasons. If your home is inhospitable due to the collapse of the Ice Cliff, then report to the town hall immediately. Rations and clean water will be distributed throughout the Kingdom by Her Majesty’s elite scouts, and are expected to arrive here within a week. Until then, make do with what you have. Do not make contact with others unless you need to report an infection. Remember your pride and dignity as a member of the tribe. Everyone is dismissed.”

The once-still dragons erupted into a sea of writhing tails and wings. I heard several dragons screaming for their families and for their dragonets, and many began to rise in a huge cloud of white and silver wings as they flew for the safety of their homes.

Maybe, just maybe, the nobles would make it out alive. Their houses were spacious and kept far apart with landscaped hills and forests in between, cutting them off from the dirt and crowds of the innermost parts of town. But anyone who ranked below the fourth circle was already out of luck. The slums, where I and so many others lived, were packed so densely together that most homes were conjoined with others. Multiple families could share a single one-room house - me and my parents were one of the lucky ones in the sixth circle.

_Three moons…_  
_We’ve already been handed a death sentence, haven’t we?_  
_It’s all because of this stupid system of circles. It’s all because of how broken the Ice Kingdom is, down to its very core._  
_How do they expect us to quarantine and distance ourselves from our neighbors when there’s no distance to put in between us? How can they give us such scattered instructions and expect us to be okay with it? How can they tell us that we won’t have food for a week and not give half a thought to our starvation?_  
_The nobles have no idea what it’s like out here. They can try to act like leaders for once, but they’ve never led dragons like me. All they do is indulge in their own safety and stability, watching from afar like gods; that’s how far removed they’ve become from the world._  
_What if we can’t escape this? What if my life will just be one blow after another? What if I’m powerless to stop any of it at all?_  
_I want to fix the Ice Kingdom. I want to fall in love with somebody. I want to be alive until the day I die, with nothing in between._  
_I want to live. Not just exist._  
_But the world is turning upside down for the IceWings, and it looks like I’m going to be at the very bottom of it all._  
_Where’s the soul of a kingdom that doesn’t care for its dragons?_  
_What’s the point of gods who only watch?_

In the midst of the frenzy of leaving dragons, I was completely still. Panicked tears clung to the corners of my eyes, but refused to fall. I was acutely aware of how small I seemed compared to the vast numbers of IceWings taking to the skies; an ant among ants forgotten under the claws of a neglectful ruler.

Someone touched my shoulder gently, and I turned to find my father standing beside me. His mouth was set in a firm line, but there was no fear in his eyes as he beckoned me to leave with him. “Let’s go home. We’ve got a lockdown.”

My bottom lip trembled. “Why is all of this happening? What did we ever do to deserve this? Are you even afraid?”

Conifer wrapped his wings around me. “It would be foolish not to be afraid, but all we can do is know that we’ll be alright. Let’s go, my daughter.” He turned and strode towards Wintergreen, who was waiting on the steps of the local tavern that overlooked the square, out of the reach of the worst chaos. Without another word, we flew into the sky with unvoiced urgency, as fast as we could towards our tiny home.

_Will we really be alright?_

**. . .**

There wasn’t anything to do when we returned, so we all sat silently around the single table in the room. There was a small stone vase in its center beside the meager pile of coins, but all of the flowers in it had wilted weeks ago. 

A sudden spike of anger shook me, and I clenched my talons into fists. “How much longer are we just going to tell ourselves that we’re going to be alright? How much longer are we going to pretend that none of this ever happened?” Wintergreen shot me a warning glance, but I ignored her, rage bubbling up inside of me. “We’re sitting at a table like we expect food to magically appear on it! There’s a disease out there that could kill us all, and you’re acting like we’ll be fine?! Nothing is fine! Nothing has ever been fine for us, and-”

Wintergreen slammed her palms onto the table, glowering down at me, and my voice died in my throat. “Silence,” she snarled, eyes dark. “If we were rich, would that save anyone? If we had a big house, food, money, and a few less circles around our necks, would that fix anything that’s happening right now?”

“Of course it would,” I snapped, glaring right back. “If we actually had the power to help dragons, then we’d be able to save someone. If any of the dragons in power right now actually used their power to help dragons instead of hiding from the world, then so many lives would be spared. If I could just fix this moons-blasted Kingdom-”

“You know nothing of the world,” Wintergreen spat.

“I think I know a lot about this world,” I yelled, fists shaking. “I’ve seen how cruel it can be to dragons like us. I’ve seen how little anyone does to help, and I know what I’d do to fix it if I could. I’ve seen how _your_ bad decisions got us here! You hate living like this so much, so why are you pretending to be content right now?!”

“Where is your pride?!” my mother shouted. “We worked so hard to get this far, so why can’t you be grateful we’re not worse off and just stop asking for more?! What more can I do for you? You’re my own daughter; why can’t you be easier to deal with? Why do you have to think about all these stupid ideas?”

Wintergreen’s eyes started to shine with tears that she refused to let spill, and regret flooded my thoughts, but I didn’t say the apology I was reciting in my head. 

Conifer stepped in and shooed me towards my bed. “Arguing won’t change anything. You too should rest early tonight, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

“Are you going somewhere?” my mother asked, suspicious. “At this hour?”

My father nodded. “I’m going to check on the workshop and make sure everything is locked up and secure. If I’m lucky, there might be some change money that I can bring back too. I’ll be back soon.”

My mother and I both seemed to have the same warnings in mind, but neither of us said anything. After a beat, my father leaned down, pushing me under my blanket and tucking me in as best as he could.

_I can’t remember the last time he ever did this for me._

I felt suddenly choked up. “Don’t go to the workshop.”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me,” Conifer murmured. “Just focus on sleep and making up with your mother.”

“I’m sorry about breaking the toys we were working on,” I whispered, sniffling.

My father chuckled. “No matter. It was an accident. You make a good carver, and I know you’ll make it up to me once this blows over. You’re the best daughter I could ask for - I know there’s a lot you’ve thrown away just to be here and support us. We can get it all done and over with another day.”

I watched my father leave the house, closing the door behind him as he left into the night. The image of him stepping into darkness just out of reach stayed imprinted on my mind until I fell asleep.


	36. Promises at Dawn ~ 4.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all promises can be kept, and Citrine should know that by now. But as life starts to enter a spiral that none of them know how to escape, and the truth comes closer to being unearthed, they'll have to make the choice between what's more important to keep: promises or secrets. Maybe it doesn't really matter, though, because Iceblink is surely aware of it all and more...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Important:** The synopsis has been revised, and the tags edited to better fit the story as it's developed now. We've also added the **Major Character Death** warning to better alert readers to plot points that have already happened (the death of Javelina, Pineapple, Yucca, etc.) and also as a warning for more important events that will take place in the future. Originally, we opted for "Creator chose not to use Archive warnings" to avoid "spoiling" but we've decided that it's better to lay something so important out in the open so that readers can steer clear if they want to. We'll still put the mini warnings at the beginning of chapters when needed. Also, we've started numbering ~XXXXXXXX~ chapters with roman numerals as a way for us to better keep track of progress through the flashback subplot. Maybe it'll make it easier for you guys to jump around those chapters too if anyone decides to go back!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading. Here's to Arc IV :D

~Saxifrage~

The Stone Claws was a maze of rock columns, some tall enough that they gave the illusion of pillars holding up the sky as their tops disappeared into dense fog. The geological oddity was neatly placed in the southeasternmost pocket of the Rift, nestled in the corner between the farthest reaches of the Obsidian Cliff and the ocean that separated the Kingdom of Ice from the Sky Kingdom. The wind and water from the sea had carved away the stone into its peculiar formation, and the mountains that locked the Stone Claws in place meant that the mist had nowhere to go, so it collected among the rock columns and shrouded them in a veil of gray.

Citrine and I had only just reached the Stone Claws, and we could see neither the Obsidian Cliff nor the ocean, although we could hear a stream gurgling in the distance and puddles of cloudy water and brine littered the moss-covered rocks beneath us. The feeling was something I couldn’t quite find words for - the other kingdoms would be less than an hours’ flight south, but that black, impenetrable wall separated us from them completely.

It was no secret that the Obsidian Cliff was the creation of Emperor Icefall, a dragon who’d become a legend and almost a myth in a kingdom devoid of NightWings. No doubt the Cliff had been made just to be a slap in the face to the IceWings and their prideful isolation. And yet, Leader Iceblink had embraced their new prison, and she used it to keep everyone else caged with her.

I would’ve found Icefall more terrifying if it wasn’t for the way Iceblink exercised total control without even a whisper of magic. She built the Compound, swallowed up every dragon that came her way, and held the keys to the kingdom she’d forged from the ashes of her tribe. Maybe she was just hell-bent on guarding the civilization she’d created, but I couldn’t help but think that we were all here for a different reason.

Why did Iceblink make sure to watch each dragon so closely? Why did she immerse herself in our lives until she knew exactly what to say to puppeteer us back into her claws? Why did she put every defector to death, instead of letting them escape the Rift? The other tribes already knew about the fall of the IceWings and the Compound, and they’d stopped sending their scouts and messengers long ago. So what was Iceblink so determined to hide from them?

I’d have to think about it another day. There was a more important assignment that I had to finish first.

Citrine and I finally came to rest on a patch of barren, lichen-covered rock, tucking in our wings. Stone pillars rose up around us, disappearing into gray clouds, and the fog was noticeably heavier at ground level. Although it was nearly mid-morning, the sun did little to burn away the mist. I nudged a pebble with the tip of my talon, unease creeping into my mind as I noted the limited visibility and the overwhelming sameness of our surroundings.

“We’re finally here. I thought my wings were going to fall off. Where do you think Crystallofolia is?” I asked. The village ruins we were looking for was somewhere within the Stone Claws, but nothing nearby gave us any clues. There was just cold rock, devoid of life except for a few patches of moss and grass tufts. We would’ve flown overhead to search, but flying blind through fog would only put us in unnecessary danger.

Citrine remained silent, replying to my question with a shrug. He refused to meet my gaze - after our awkward, oddly heartfelt conversation on the way here, Citrine had just seemed to shut down. At first, I thought he was just embarrassed, but when I watched him longer, I realized that there really was something going on.

Citrine’s amber eyes were always ignited with emotion he never voiced, but here...they just seemed subdued. The flames behind them had burnt out. He almost looked scared, or cornered, as if something had trapped him in place inside of his head. But I was too nervous to pry, and maybe it was just the off-putting vibe of the stone labyrinth around us.

“Well,” I replied, voice cracking awkwardly. “Um. I guess we should just keep going southeast? Until we find something?”

Citrine finally looked at me, and a weird, crashing sensation of relief washed over me as he spoke. “Sure.” 

He leaned in close, and my eyes widened before I realized that he was only trying to take the satchel of mapping materials from my shoulder. “W-what - oh.”

Citrine glanced up at me, eyes widening slightly at my surprised expression, and he jerked backwards. I flinched at his reaction. “S-sorry. Sorry. I’ll take the satchel. You shouldn’t strain your wing when you’re still injured. I’m doing the drawing for the map, anyway.”

He sounded so defensive, and he rarely apologized for anything. Maybe there was really something wrong. Why wasn’t he telling me what it was?

_Why would he tell you anything? Who would ever confide in someone like you? You never say the right things to comfort other dragons._

I winced as I recalled how Citrine had snapped at me when we’d talked in the infirmary. Even if things had turned out alright, I still felt embarrassed and guilty.

_Look how disgusted he was when he got close just now. Am I that ugly? Does he find my appearance weird like everyone else, but just hides it better?_

But Citrine leaned forward again, slower this time, and he grasped at the strap of the satchel anyway. His talons gently brushed against the scales on my shoulder before he lifted the strap over my neck and tugged the satchel away from my body. I let him take it without comment as he tightened it around his chest.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my eyes searching his.

Citrine turned his gaze away from mine, and I let out a mental scream of frustration. “Can you go ahead and find a place to set up camp? I’ll...I’ll look for the village. It should be nearby.”

I pressed my lips together, debating whether or not to pry, but I decided against it and sighed quietly. “Sure. Give a yell if you need anything, I guess.”

I walked forward into the mist, glancing back to make sure Citrine would be alright on his own. His gaze darted to and fro, although his mind was clearly somewhere else, and his claws absentmindedly reached up to his neck and clasped at thin air near his collarbone, like something had been there but gone missing.

_I really don’t know how to talk to you. What can I do to get past your walls?_

The air was chilly, and I found myself walking slower than ever to avoid slamming into the near-invisible towers of stone, hidden behind the fog. Letting out an uncomfortable groan, I let my claws drag over the gnarled rock, walking in large circles in an attempt to find an appropriate area to take shelter. I couldn’t find any caves or overhangs large enough to shelter both of us for the night. The light of day was subtly fading, and I picked up the pace as I searched.

I resorted to walking straight ahead, pebbles shifting beneath my talons. There wasn’t enough time to keep looking. I’d have to start looking for Citrine now if I wanted to find him. Once it got dark, even if I used my fire, I’d never find my way through the fog back to him. Things echoed strangely here, and it was hard to pinpoint an exact location.

“Citrine?” My voice reverberated back to me, bouncing off of the towering spires of stone. _“Citrine?”_

Maroon and pale gold flashed through the mist briefly, and I strode towards the blurry figure.

“Citrine! There you are. Why didn’t you say anything?” 

I paused when I saw how his back was turned to me, wings drooping and head bent. Citrine was standing in the middle of a thin pathway. Ahead of us, where the path widened into a cobblestone road, was the ruins of an abandoned city, its crumbling stone walls and rotted thatch roofs fading into the earth. I made my way to Citrine’s side, where the path snaked around a short stone wall. A large, flat stone protruded from the ground just before the wall, and the faint, worn outlines of carved letters decorated the mossy boulder.

**CRYSTALLOFOLIA**

_So he did find it. Looks like we’re not wasting any time._

Ahead of us, close to the side of the road, a large tree protruded from between the cobblestones. It had died long ago, and its dry branches clawed at the hidden sky above. A section of the bark near its stump had been scraped away. Chips of wood and splinters were scattered around the tree’s tangled roots. I stepped around the stone wall and faded city marker, following the weather-worn road to closer inspect the odd tree. Citrine didn’t follow me.

“Citrine?”

He glanced up, realizing I’d gone ahead, and he walked around the wall to join me. “...What? Did you find a place for us to camp yet?”

“There wasn’t anywhere sheltered enough,” I said, shaking my head, and he nodded, still staring into thin air as if he was watching something I couldn’t see. “Citrine, what’s wrong?”

Citrine ignored me, wrapping his barbed tail around his front talons.

“Citrine.” I raised my voice slightly. “What happened? Are you okay? You’ve been acting strange ever since we got here.”

He didn’t move, but his breath started to come in pained little sighs, as if he was about to either cry or fly into a rage. “She killed him here.”

_Oh._   
_Oh, Citrine…_   
_This project isn’t just a makeup assignment, is it? It’s a punishment._   
_Iceblink, how could you do this to him? How could you send him back to this place?_

Citrine’s voice was hollow with grief. “She killed him here, and I couldn’t do anything to stop her. All I did was get myself captured. The years we spent, working and dreaming for something better, and all of it was for nothing. How could I have been so blind? Why didn’t I see through her?” His eyes glittered in the growing shadows, wet with tears that hadn’t spilled over yet. “I promised Mother that I’d protect him. The only promise I ever made in my life, and I still couldn’t fulfill it. I failed. I wasn’t even there for him when he died.”

I wanted to say something, anything to help, but Citrine’s eyes had blazed alight again - this time with some dark inferno that was barely controlled by his shaking fists.

“Iceblink _wanted_ to hurt us. She manipulated us and deceived us. She gave my brother the most love between the two of us, and then she _ripped him to bloody shreds._ Every move we made to get away, I was just playing right into her claws. I’m tired of this game of chess. If she gets to cheat and lie to win, then I’ll do the same thing. And when I graduate, I swear by all three of the moons that I’ll murder her the same way she murdered my brother.”

_No._   
_Don’t._

Citrine stepped towards me, amber eyes meeting mine, swallowing me up in their flames. “We don’t have any freedom as trainees, so I can’t do a thing now. But if I graduate at the top of the ranks, I’m guaranteed a position in the Compound. That way, I can… I don’t care if you don’t understand. But it’s justice. And I won’t let anyone get in my way. Iceblink hasn’t broken me the way she has everyone else.”

I didn’t know whether he was trying to convince me or himself, but I knew the truth as I watched him burning himself alive in his rage.

Citrine stopped, and we stared at each other, talons nearly touching. He spoke again, his tone nearly guttural. “She _killed_ him. She killed him, and I did nothing, so I have to make up for it now. What else am I supposed to do? What else am I good for?” Citrine laughed brokenly, and a tear spilled over his cheek. “Why won’t you leave me alone? I’ve even told you this. Why won’t you leave me like everyone else does?”

“I’m not going to leave you,” I told him, my heart twisting. “We’re friends. We’ve only got each other, right? Who else is going to yell at you and tell you why you’re wrong? I’m the only one who’s going to tell you not to do it. I hate her just as much as you do, but you can’t do it. You’re only hurting yourself, Citrine. If you k-kill her, you’re just following in her steps.”

“I am _nothing_ like Iceblink,” Citrine spat. “If you think we’re that similar, then just _go away_ and save yourself the way you should, you _idiot!"_

“I’m not leaving.” I shook my head, sniffling. My vision had gone blurry from tears.

“Why not?’

“I’m not going to!”

_“Why?!”_

“Because I _need_ you!” I cried out. “I don’t want to feel lonely anymore. I used to have nobody, but these past few weeks you’ve always been there with me. I’m just selfish because I don’t want to be by myself anymore, right? I don’t need you to do anything. I’m already so much happier than I was before just by being able to sit with you at lunch and talk to someone everyday. I want to keep talking to you. And I want someone to talk to me. So please don't push me away, Citrine.”

I tentatively reached out a trembling wing to touch his own, and he shifted, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden touch. But Citrine didn’t pull away, and he let our wings brush.

After a long moment, he let out a shaking sigh. “Don’t worry about not finding a shelter. Most of these buildings here still have a roof, so we’ll make do with one of the abandoned houses.” 

I nodded. “Will you be okay? Staying here, you know.”

Citrine pulled away from me and shrugged, walking around to peer into the broken windows of the nearest buildings. “It’s not any worse than the rest of this place. Plus, it’s a small village, so we should only have to stay until around noon tomorrow if we camp overnight and work fast with redrawing the map.”

Eventually, we discovered a dilapidated cabin near the edges of the village that still held up a sagging roof. Although the air was damp, mildew grew on the walls, and shattered glass littered the floor from the broken windows, it was in better shape than most of the buildings we’d seen. The tiny, one-room house would be enough for one night.

Citrine set the satchel of materials to the side, rummaging through it and organizing our supplies, and I swept the broken glass out of the house with an ancient broom I’d found in a dark corner. The rugs and furs that had covered the ground were too wet to use as blankets, so I hung them up over the windows to block out the night air. Although IceWings didn’t use fireplaces for warmth, the previous owners of the house had left a small fire-pit behind for cooking, and I managed to light a small fire with a few damp branches I’d scavenged outside.

I lay down on the cold floor, shifting until I found a comfortable position and wishing that the fire would burn a little hotter. A moment later, Citrine finished sorting our supplies, fishing out a couple stale slices of bread and handing me one. The food was gone in seconds, and I felt a little remorseful for not having savored it longer.

A long moment later, Citrine settled down next to me, and I felt a wing drop lightly over my body. I nearly flinched from surprise, but I stopped myself from moving away. Citrine’s eyes were trained on the door, jaw clenched even though the touch of his wing was so tender. Still, it was impossible not to be grateful despite the awkward position. Even though it was nearly summer, the nights in the Rift were still cold, and the warmth of the fire was disappointing. Citrine radiated faint heat almost like a true SandWing.

“Did I scare you earlier?” he mumbled, still staring at the door. “I’m sorry. I lost myself, and I went too far.”

“It’s okay. I understand,” I mumbled back. “No hard feelings.”

“Saxifrage?”

For some reason, my heart jumped. “Yeah?”

“I don’t think you’re selfish to want companionship. You deserve to be happy. And to be around people that make you happy.”

“So do you,” I pointed out, rolling over to face Citrine. “You don’t have to isolate yourself like this. You deserve to be happy too.”

Citrine’s face hardened. “Not really. And I can’t, anyway. I don’t want to drag other dragons into my...situation.”

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” I said. “I think I’m doing perfectly fine.”

“I don’t have a choice. I have to do this. Sunstone would...” Citrine trailed off, eyes glazing over again.

It sounded more like a question than anything.

“His name was Sunstone?”

“Who?” Citrine looked so lost that I felt sorry for him.

“Your little brother.” I gazed earnestly at him.

“Oh,” Citrine said. “Yes. His name was Sunstone.”

“That’s a beautiful name.” It was the least I could give him.

“His personality was too,” Citrine said, cracking a tiny smile. “Beautiful. Even with all the struggles we had, he was always so untarnished by the world. I always thought he was too hopeful and too happy about everything, but now I’d give away the world just to hear him talk like that again. I’d give anything to think the way he did.”

“His name really fit, huh?” I asked, grinning.

Citrine continued to talk, the words spilling from his mouth as if his life depended on it. “His scales were pale yellow, the exact color of sand. He got some red from our father - these tiny scarlet freckles covered him everywhere. And we had the same eyes. I still remember how happy I was when he hatched. Sunstone was two years younger than me. I don’t remember our parents much, I just remember how much they loved us. It’s the one thing I was always certain about for them. When Mother left us, I promised I’d protect Sunstone. She gave me her necklace, too, just to remind me she’d be back. I...lost it.”

Citrine’s expression started to look sorrowful again, so I hurried to redirect him. “Tell me more about Sunstone.”

“He was so bright, but I guess that the rest of the world was just too dark. He won’t have died to only be forgotten. I’ll avenge him. Maybe I couldn’t keep my promise, but I can give him Iceblink’s death…” Citrine stopped, his face twisting as he realized how the words sounded.

“You shouldn’t,” I whispered.

“I have nothing left,” he choked out. “I...I’m… What else am I supposed to do? You say I’m punishing myself, but don’t I deserve it? What’s _wrong_ with me?”

I sighed and scooted forward. Before I could decide that I was being incredibly stupid, I dragged Citrine in close to me and wrapped my wings around him. He froze, and I could almost feel the electrified tension in his muscles. Eventually, without really registering it, I felt him lean into me and relax. His arm curled around my waist.

“I am the only reason that my sister and I are in the Compound,” I said. “I was just being stupid. I was only wandering through the trees, because I’d gotten bored of watching Mother and Chrysanthemum cooking our food. When I met Iceblink, it never even occurred to me that she might not have been a hundred percent good.”

“She’s good at appearances, isn’t she?” Citrine muttered. “I’ll bet that even the reality of the Iceblink we see now isn’t completely true.”

_A mask for every occasion._

“I led her straight to my family, and then Iceblink replied to the favor by putting a dagger to my throat. Mother begged her to release me, her daughter that she’d sacrificed everything to protect. So Iceblink demanded our servitude in exchange for my life. But my mother was too prideful. Iceblink was going to kill me. Instead of letting me go, Mother just begged Iceblink to let it be her instead. To kill her, and let Chrysanthemum and I go free. She paid the ultimate price, and Iceblink took us away to the Compound anyway.” I sniffled, blinking away the burning sensation in my eyes. “I remember the look on Chrysanthemum’s face as Iceblink carried us to the Compound in chains. She couldn’t stop staring at me. The whole flight there, she couldn’t say a word, but I was watching her heart break in slow motion.”

Citrine said nothing, and I watched him carefully for a reaction. He gave nothing away, and I was almost grateful.

“When we were finally released from our entrance examination, Chrysanthemum was automatically placed in Sastrugi while I was left behind in Aufeis. I didn’t know how to communicate with other dragons, and I didn’t know how to make friends. People just didn’t like me, or they only came to me when they needed something. And the big sister I’d put so much trust into just never spoke to me again.” I sighed. “I see her almost every day in the Compound, but we don’t talk anymore. I don’t blame her.”

Citrine hugged me back gently, barely touching my scales, and I let myself cry into his shoulder. After I calmed down, he spoke quietly. “Saxifrage?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for not leaving me.”

My heart ached. “I wouldn’t anyway, dummy.”

“Sure,” Citrine grumbled. “Saxifrage?”

“What? I’m trying to sleep.”

“I won’t leave you either. So you don’t have to worry anymore.”

I didn’t say anything, but a smile rested on my lips, lighting up my face even as I closed my eyes. The two of us fell asleep like that, curled around each other, looking for something we didn’t know if we’d find.


	37. Promises at Dawn ~ 4.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Important:** Prologue: The Setting Sun and Stranger from the Sky ~ 1.2 have been revised a lot because of a plot point change that will affect future chapters as of 7/20/20. If you're super invested it's probably a good idea to go back and re-read those now! That's why this update is so late :p
> 
> Also, the start of this chapter has some exposition involving some headcanons we made up for this fic in particular. It might not match up to canon, but not much really does here anyway lol
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading.

~Sunstone~

“A few days ago, I had you read _Overture of the Monochrome Wars_ to learn the basics of the history of hatred between IceWings and NightWings,” Flurry said, pacing across the room to rest another small scroll on the desk he’d set up for me. “Now, I’m going to teach you the details of animus magic, specifically related to the feud of the two tribes we’ve been studying in depth.”

I nodded along, flipping through the new scroll - _Animus: Art of Creation_ \- and hoping that Flurry wouldn’t ask too many questions about the previous one I’d read. I knew I’d been careless that day, letting my new maid Achatina spot it so easily, and my tutor would throw an unending fit despite how minimal the risk was. Plus, I hadn’t finished reading it, but it wasn’t a huge problem. I could always lie about it, right? The material wasn’t that complicated, and a maid wouldn’t have second questions about her master’s homework.

“It’s common knowledge that animus magic is hereditary and originates from the IceWing tribe. It was a power that was carefully cultivated by the royal family for centuries, utilized for the benefit of the kingdom as a whole. If not for the religious study and written record of the magic since ancient times, the rest of Pyrrhia would have little knowledge about the ability, its limitations, and its aftereffects.” Flurry reached down and tapped a paragraph on the scroll he’d given me, and I squinted at the scrawled ink. “However, animus magic came into existence long before dragons created a written language, so the true origins of the ability and how the IceWings first acquired it remain a mystery. Read me the most popular theories listed here.”

“Uh, logical scholars have assumed the superiority of science in this case, in which animus magic is a genetic mutation stemming from the same process of evolution that gave dragons their wings; thus, pure happenstance. However, um - who wrote this? It’s so hard to read, three moons.”

I looked up just in time to watch Flurry give me one of his longest disappointed sighs yet. “However, much of the fanatical rabble chooses to believe in the origin of animus magic being from the heavens, often citing the rumored meteor that started the Scorching. Some take this belief further and assume that the meteor was a fourth moon that fell out of orbit - after all, if the power of NightWings is blessed by the three moons in the sky, then it would not be such a stretch to apply the same logic to the power of animus.”

“Oh, that’s what it says.”

“It’s basic calligraphy, Sunstone. We used to study this. You should be able to read this easily-”

“Isn’t calligraphy one of those ‘useless subjects of fantasy’ that you banned from our new curriculum? I thought you hated it as much as I did.”

“I know you already think I’m old, and consequently boring, but calligraphy is an art that I was once very passionate about, back in my day.” Flurry frowned at me, tapping the scroll again in an attempt to redirect us back to the lesson.

“Yeah, sure. If you were so _passionate_ about it, then why would you ever stop? It isn’t like…” I trailed off when I looked back down again at my tutor’s palm pressing down on the desk.

How had I forgotten so easily? The raised, leathery scars covering his claws and bandaging the places where his talons used to be seemed to stand out more than they had before. Now that I looked closely, the arch of his palm was still marred by a curve of discolored marks where teeth had punctured scales. There was no way that Flurry wouldn’t feel the sting of my words. I was really in for it-

“Let’s move on,” Flurry said softly, retracting his arm and hiding his scarred claws under the desk. An obscure shadow had fallen over his face, blocking any of the sharp comments that would have normally flown off his tongue in a heartbeat.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Despite the fantastical abilities that animus magic grants, it has its limitations,” Flurry said, brushing away my half-whispered apology, and his refusal to acknowledge me ached more than any scolding. “Being that no matter what, animus magic cannot bring back the dead. Either way, more often than not, the ability is used for destruction and results in death rather than healing. This is where our history lesson comes in. We’ll leave the ancient topics behind today and instead focus completely on Icefall, Emperor of the NightWings.”

His name was always uttered like an incantation that summoned a warped, terrorized version of worship. It had taken him half a thought to tear down the Ice Cliff that had stood untouched since ancient times, and barely a breath to topple the rest of the kingdom. How much effort had it taken him to create the Plague? When the IceWings dropped like flies as the rest of Pyrrhia watched, did he care at all, or did all those dragons really look as insignificant as buzzing gnats in front of his power?

“What’s stopping animus users from bringing back the dead, anyway?” I blurted out. “If magic can kill dragons so easily, then shouldn’t it revive them just as well?”

“How much time does it take to cut a dragon’s flesh with a sword? And how long does it take that wound to heal?” Flurry returned, and I hesitated. “It is far easier to take something apart than it is to build. Dragons are especially complicated - resurrecting one with an intact body might not seem difficult, but to piece together the remnants of a dragon’s soul to give them consciousness is an especially monumental task. No one has done it before, and the few animus users that tried have sacrificed their souls in vain.”

“So maybe an animus can’t bring someone back completely,” I tried again. “But you said that just reviving the body would be much easier. Is it possible to resurrect a dragon without a soul? What if the body still...worked, kind of? If a dead dragon could be made to function without a soul or consciousness, then that would be considered a kind of revival-”

“That kind of thinking goes against all morality and respect for the living and dead alike,” Flurry snapped. “Animus magic may be fantastical, but it cannot break such fundamental truths of the world. It isn’t possible.”

“Really?” I pushed. “Is it that impossible? Wounds still heal. Maybe the intricacies of such a spell just take a long time to create. I think you’re right about it being too hard to piece together the souls of the deceased, but if we’re just talking about physical remains, then it’s not so monumental. You’d think that some animus would have tried to do it by now.”

“Sunstone,” Flurry pleaded. I stared at him blankly, blinking at the way his blue eyes pinned me to my seat; the way his brows wrought together. His mouth was pressed into a line, but his lips trembled, and he swallowed thickly. “No one would go that far, Sunstone. It’s an interesting...idea, but there’s nothing more to it. Who would sacrifice their soul to explore something so diabolic? Where would one even get all of the corpses to test such a thing? It could never be done.”

I knew I’d pushed my tutor too far multiple times already, and agonized frustration was written all over the wrinkles on his face, but some faint voice in my head told me there was something I needed to talk through. “I just think that maybe-”

A knock sounded at the door to Flurry’s rooms, the sound cutting through the air like a knife. I paused. Flurry always made sure that there were never any visitors, and it was nowhere near time for Iceblink to retrieve me from my lessons - what was going on?

Flurry had stopped cold, and the unfocused look in his eyes didn’t match the eerie calm on the rest of his face. I sucked in a breath.

All of the materials my tutor had smuggled in were scattered about the room. If Iceblink was at the door…

It was over, wasn’t it? I’d have to go back to memorizing meaningless information and slogging through the calculus that had never proved useful. All the intrigue and hints to the outside world that I’d craved would be gone. Stolen. I’d cheerfully played along with Flurry for this long, indulging in the way we’d somehow found a friendlier connection, but for what?

How angry would Iceblink be? The answer didn’t seem like something I wanted to hear, from Flurry’s expression. Guilt sunk its claws into my heart, twisting deep.

_This is a mistake. Iceblink is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. How can I betray her trust and deceive her like this? These secret lessons, the catacombs, talking to Luminescent… It isn’t some kind of cute game, is it?_   
_I should come clean._

There was another knock at the door, this one more impatient. Flurry came back to life, fluttering his wings in a rush. “Just a minute!” he shouted before whipping around to glare at me with his periwinkle eyes. “Why aren’t you cleaning up?” he hissed at me, barely audible. “Quickly now. That’s Leader Iceblink at the door.”

I reached for the nearest scrolls on the desk, following his instructions on instinct, but my talons twitched, stopping midair before I could pick anything up.

_I should come clean, but this isn’t a game anymore, is it?_   
_It would be so easy. To go back to how it was before. I hate lying. I hate lying to Iceblink even more. I want to go back to how it used to be. So why does it feel like running away?_

“Sunstone?” Flurry whispered. He paused as he took down the maps and diagrams he’d set up for the day, searching my face. “Sunstone. Hurry.”

_Am I selfish to want to keep all of this to myself? To want to discover the world without you spoon-feeding it to me? I’m finally meeting new dragons. I’m finally doing things for myself. I don’t want to be a know-nothing, and the outside world keeps calling. So maybe I’m selfish, but I can’t tell you the truth._   
_I hope you can forgive me, Iceblink._

I shoved the scrolls together into a messy heap, forgoing the organization Flurry usually would have demanded. Flurry snatched it all away from my arms and shoved it into a nearby drawer as best he could, but the scrolls were too bulky. The drawer refused to close completely, and some of the papyrus was peeking out through the open space, but we couldn’t delay any longer.

Flurry grabbed a blank scroll and quickly jotted down a complex algebraic problem, slapping it on my desk and briskly turning to the door in a single frantic move. Motioning for me to sit down and look natural, he opened the door and stepped aside to reveal Iceblink.

She didn’t look angry or suspicious. There was a faint smile on her lips, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Second-in-command Flurry,” she said by way of greeting. “And my dearest Sunstone.”

The spring chill of her voice had turned to winter in my ears. Even with the warm smile she extended to me, I couldn’t help but imagine the crackle of frostbreath around her words. My breath caught in my throat when the memory of Yucca flashed through my mind nonsensically - no matter how different the situation was now, part of me couldn’t let go of that day. I’d tried not to think about it too much, but...

Flurry smiled back at Iceblink, and I felt begrudgingly impressed by how well he faked it. “Leader Iceblink,” he said. “Good afternoon. I apologize for the slight delay; your visit was unexpected.”

“I am well aware,” Iceblink said. Her eyes narrowed, but it might have just been her smile growing. “It’s a shame I had to interrupt, but you’ll make the time for me, won’t you?”

I looked away shyly, my eyes falling to her side, and my blood ran cold. Nestled in the crook of her arm was a scroll, unraveled just enough for me to read the title.

** _Overture of the Monochrome Wars_ **

“It won’t take long,” Iceblink assured my tutor. “I’m only here to return this.”

She strode into the room and set the scroll down on the desk in front of me, unrolling it slightly and gesturing at the title, wearing the same smile that hadn’t left her face since her arrival. Flurry raised a brow ever so slightly, the shift in expression almost unnoticeable, but the look he slid me was enough to tell me how much I’d messed up.

“Ah, this? Where did you find it?” Flurry asked. “I haven’t seen this in a while.”

“Oh, just in Sunstone’s rooms the other day. His maid mentioned it to me, and I took a peek inside a while ago, and it was still there. I wondered if he’d forgotten to bring it with him along with his other scrolls for his lessons.”

_She knows?! Since when? Was this one scroll enough? Am I that stupid?_

“This isn’t reading material I’ve assigned, so there’s no need for Sunstone to bring it along with him,” Flurry replied easily, stopping the train of my panicked thoughts in its tracks. He turned to me, glare twisting like a blade between my scales. “I’m curious as to how Sunstone found such a scroll.”

“That’s the case, then? I’m curious as well,” Iceblink said, tapping the desk.

Both IceWings were smiling down at me, and I laughed nervously, trapped between two amiable rows of teeth. “Oh. I was looking through the library the other day, and it seemed interesting, so I brought it back. I guess I didn’t clean up very well. Sorry.”

Flurry snorted quietly, but Iceblink beamed at me. “I’m so proud of you! You’re starting to read nonfiction on your own instead of swearing by fantasy like you used to. That’s very exciting.”

“Really? I mean, yeah, it is. I’m having fun.”

“That’s quite an advanced scroll, however, and the facts have changed since it was written. You should talk to me more about your reading habits, and I’ll be sure to find you something better. There are much more appropriate options to spend your time on, instead of this outdated misinformation.” Iceblink suddenly shifted her gaze to look at me, and I stopped moving. She smiled at me gently, but somehow, her eyes seemed cold. “And how are your studies going, Sunstone?”

“Good,” I said meekly. “Really good.”

“What are you learning?” Iceblink leaned over the table and examined the math problem.

“Uh,” I began.

“Advanced differentiation,” Flurry said, saving me. “He’s struggling a bit, but we’re getting there.”

“I’m sure you will,” Iceblink said. “However, isn’t that a little behind schedule? In the lesson plan you submitted last week, Sunstone was supposed to be doing integrals now.”

Flurry’s smile twitched. “I would like to nail down the basics with him before we move on. It’s slower than I would like, but I’m sure you don’t want me to push him too hard.”

“I understand. I trust you’ll get Sunstone back on schedule soon. By the way, should I call a maid? It’s a bit messy in here. How unlike you.” Iceblink nodded at the drawer with scrolls shoved in it, but thankfully didn’t go over to investigate.

“No need. Things often get moved during lessons, but I clean up easily afterwards.” Flurry replied, looking mildly offended by the suggestion.

“Have it your way, then. I said I wouldn’t take up your time, and I have work, so I’ll take my leave now. We’ll continue our chat later - and I’ll look forward to dinner with you, Sunstone.” Iceblink left promptly, closing the door before I could say goodbye.

I turned a shameful gaze towards Flurry, whose face had finally contorted into the frustration and disappointment he’d been hiding. For a long moment, he just stood there, staring me down and seething while cold air fogged around his clenched jaw.

“You are a piece of work, Sunstone. The things I have to do for you,” he hissed. “You should prepare yourself better. I can’t do all the work. Just now, things could have gone very badly. I’ve prepared to sacrifice quite a bit just to give you this opportunity. This is not a game.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, looking away. “I could have done better.”

Flurry looked at me for a long moment before letting out a sigh. “At least It looks like you’re a little smarter under pressure. Good work with the library excuse. I hope you won’t have to use it again.”

“It won’t happen.”

“We’ll end lessons early today. I’ll figure out a better way to deal with any surprise visits, and you can take a break.”

I nodded, heading towards the door. “Okay…”

I twisted the knob and dragged it open, stepping out onto the dim threshold. Half a moment later, I felt Flurry’s palm rest on my right shoulder, the scars rough against my scales. I turned back, startled.

My tutor’s face was grim. “Trust is like glass, Sunstone. Once it’s broken, even if you seal it back together, the cracks will still be visible. So be careful of who you allow to hold it. Not everything around you is what it seems.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he just pushed me gently into the dark, closing his door.

**. . .**

_Not everything around you is what it seems._

The line had rattled around in my head for the rest of the day, soaking up my thoughts during the quiet dinner I’d had with Iceblink and distracting me from the homework I was supposed to finish. Now, the ornate grandfather clock across the room was ticking close to midnight, and I still couldn’t sleep.

_Forget about it. He’s just paranoid after today, and all that gibberish about trust and glass is exactly the kind of flowery nonsense he loves to spout. I bet he read it in a scroll somewhere and was just dying to use it on somebody._   
_Why is he so scared of Iceblink finding out about everything, anyway? And why in the world do I keep covering for him?_

I closed my eyes for a long moment before dragging myself off the bed. Everything was so boring. There was nothing to do. Nobody to talk to with Pineapple transferred and Yucca…gone.

_Unless…_   
_There’s no guarantee that he’ll be there this early._   
_But maybe I have a chance._

Rolling out of bed and stumbling around my moonlit rooms, I headed into the library with a plume of flame in the back of my throat to light the way. When I reached the secret passageway, I opened it as quietly as I could, but the chains still rattled in the dark. Stepping into the catacombs quietly, I marveled at how loud my heartbeat sounded in my ears.

I closed the secret passageway behind me and peered into the darkness, coughing out a flame, and I wondered where I’d be able to find Luminescent - if he was even here tonight. Where did he usually come from? Maybe if I retraced his steps, I’d run into him. But I’d never ventured very far, and what if I got lost?

Part of me just wanted to start walking in random directions and run off the exhaustion and confusion of the day until nobody would be able to find me and bother me again. But I couldn’t bring myself to take another step into the catacombs.

Even though I tried not to think about it, guilt crashed around me in undulating waves, and the figure of Iceblink had started to distort in my mind. Why did no one seem to like her, and why had Pineapple looked so terrified that day? Why did things have to turn out the way they did with Yucca? Even today at the lesson, smiling so fondly at me, I couldn’t help but feel threatened. What had changed for me to become so paranoid and to have such twisted hints of thoughts about her?

I really, really wanted to go back to how things used to be. Before this awful, misplaced doubt had been sown in my mind. What was wrong with me? Some kind of stress I hadn’t pinned down was causing me to take it out on Iceblink, and the hallways of Firn had become fragile and paper-thin. The outside world teased me more and more, but why did exploring it feel like such a betrayal?

_This is not a game._

The darkness suddenly seemed suffocating. I wouldn’t be able to take another step like this. I could just go back inside and act like nothing had changed at all-

“Look who’s here early,” a familiar voice said, and my heart skipped a beat. “Were you looking forward to seeing me that much?”

I smiled awkwardly into the dark, squinting when Luminescent finally lit up his glowing scales, casting the tunnel into dim teal light. I really wanted to tell him the truth - yes - but the words caught in my throat.

The glowing dragon paused, studying my face. “Are you okay?”

“U-um, I…” I trailed off. “I’m just...I…Sorry.”

Luminescent walked around to my side, sitting down and brushing a wing against my side gently. “No need to be sorry. I won't pry. Do you want me to take you anywhere tonight?”

I shook my head and sat down, curling my tail around my claws and folding my wings in close.

“That’s fine with me.” Luminescent didn’t say anything else.

The silence drew out between us, but it didn’t feel awkward. I studied his face in the dim light of his glowing scales. It was hard to make out his features, but I thought that I could see angular cheekbones and a knife-sharp jaw, outlined by shadows. He looked like he was a good bit taller than I was. Some kind of leather sheath was wrapped around his forearm, holding the knife he always seemed to carry, but I felt safe next to him.

After a moment, Luminescent tilted his head at me, and I realized I’d been caught staring. I swallowed and glanced away.

“What? Am I ugly?” he asked, leaning towards me and smirking in a way that made my ears burn.

“Y-yes,” I muttered.

“Really?” he asked, laughter written all over his voice. “How ugly?”

“Hideously ugly,” I shot back despite myself. “So revolting I can’t even look at you anymore. It’s a crime to look like that, you know.”

“Well,” Luminescent said, letting out a raspy laugh. “I guess you’re going to the dungeons with me, then. You’re even uglier than I am.”

_“Excuse_ me,” I sputtered, whirling back to snap at his disgustingly charming face, but I paused at his mischevious smile and thought a little harder about the comment. “Oh. W-wait, really?”

Luminescent grinned, raising a brow. “Do I look like a liar?”

_Honestly, you look exactly like the dangerous type in scrolls._

“Thanks for coming tonight,” I murmured.

Luminescent lifted a wing and draped it around my shoulders. “Anytime. Are you okay, though? You’ve been jittery the whole time. Should I go?”

_Yes. No._

“I don’t know. I-I’m scared.”

“Of what? Is it someone?” He leaned away, peering into the nearby tunnels. “If it’s a trainee, I’ll take care of it-”

“It’s nothing like that,” I said, interrupting him. “It’s not you either. I really don’t know. I just…”

“Feel nervous? No real reason, but it’s eating you up inside anyway?” Luminescent guessed, and I nodded. He smiled ruefully. “I get that feeling all the time. I understand.”

“It never used to be like this,” I said. “I’m not used to not being able to sleep.”

“I know a lot about sleepless nights,” said Luminescent. He reached out a talon, brushing my shoulder, the touch gentle but rough with callouses I hadn’t noticed before. “You don’t have to talk about it. But if you need me, then I’ll find you.”

It didn’t resolve any of the nagging anxiety clouding my mind, but I felt a little better. “Thank you.”

“Am I still ugly?”

I knew Luminescent wasn’t referring to the joking conversation we’d had earlier. It was something more complicated than that now, closer to the different worlds we lived in and the terrifying contrast between us. By all means, we never should have met, and we likely would’ve stood far apart in any normal meeting, but being around him was so easy. Despite the rough edges and coarse informality about him that I still didn’t quite understand, I wasn’t nervous like I’d been before.

“No. I don’t think so, at least.”

“I’m glad.”


	38. Promises at Dawn ~ 4.3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates have been pretty few and far between this summer, but hopefully once I get the fabled school-issued laptop in a week or two, I'll be able to work and post easier and more frequently! anyway, here's another angst chapter :( but citrine makes some pretty important realizations at the end that will hopefully make him change a little :) so citrifrage isn't totally a lost cause yet

~Citrine~

I woke to the faint light of morning falling in through the broken doorway, and I yawned, stretching out my wings. Still half asleep, I turned my head to find Saxifrage curled under my arm. Her white wings were still draped over me.

I still wasn’t quite sure what exactly had happened last night. Something had changed, and yet everything was still the same - maybe better, somehow. It was the first time in recent memory that I’d woken up warm, roused by sunlight instead of bitter chill. Cradled in Saxifrage’s arms, I could almost see myself drifting back into unconsciousness and sleeping in, sheltered from the ruin around me inside and out.

But the memory of last night’s conversation snaked its way around my thoughts, and the nervous energy thrumming in my veins constricted tighter until I had no choice but to get up. I still wasn’t completely comfortable around Saxifrage. Maybe I never would be, but that wasn’t such a bad thing. I couldn’t see the world as she saw it, full of opportunity even in the Rift, no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t want to see the world like she did anyway, not if it meant inevitable disappointment.

Rising to my claws as quietly as possible, being sure not to wake Saxifrage, I walked to the doorway of the stone cabin, blinking to clear my eyes. Morning fog had blanketed the ruins of Crystallofolia, and I could only see clearly for a couple tail-lengths before dilapidated houses and sun-starved trees faded into the misty gray. Although I couldn’t see it, my eyes drifted in the direction of the town square, and my breath was stolen away again. Every thought of this town ached like a physical punch to the gut, and the house I’d just thought of as a shelter had turned claustrophobic.

_I can’t believe I told Saxifrage everything._   
_She knows. She knows everything, and I barely know myself._

Panic seized my mind, and for some reason, I wanted to cry. I couldn’t care less that she knew my plans for Iceblink. If it was any other dragon, I’d be going berserk over the possible consequences, but I trusted Saxifrage to be smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

The wounds this place had left behind had finally started to scar, but being trapped here again was twisting old knives back into my vitals, shredding me to scattered pieces and tearing down titanium defenses that had turned out to be brittle glass all along. I was fragile. I worked for so long to build myself up again, and I’d dumped all of my missing, broken pieces onto Saxifrage. It was so easy. So easy to be vulnerable with her, and now I was completely exposed, and I hated it, and I was shattering all over again.

_Why did I ever say anything? She doesn’t want to know these things about me. I don’t want her to know these things about me. I don’t want her to care._   
_I don’t want her to leave._   
_I hate it here._   
_I don’t want to be here anymore._

There was nowhere I could go, but the itch in my claws was too strong and I couldn’t bear the thought of staying and facing Saxifrage when she woke up. So I walked out onto the cobblestone road, drifting along dirt trails and overgrown gardens, quiet windows watching me walk alone. Somehow, I ended up in the town square, even though I’d tried my best to avoid it. The pathways in this town didn’t quite make sense, and they all seemed to spiral back to where it had all begun.

The dead tree seemed smaller than it had five years ago, but bare branches still faded into the heavy sky above me. I didn’t have to think for the images of the dragons that had torn us apart to summon. I didn’t want to look to the sky to see Sunstone carried far away from me again.

_So much for promises._   
_‘Together until the end,’ huh?_   
_You still died alone._   
_Without me._

Somewhere inside me, a lock snapped, fell away, and boiling rage poured out of me, choking me into simmering silence too hot to scream or even breathe properly. In the ashen shadow of my mind, the glowing pieces came together, melding into a blindingly white figure - wings that eclipsed the heavens, claws like polished scythes, borne of my burning hatred yet deathly cold-

The white figure turned around, and I couldn’t tell whether her blurred face belonged to Iceblink or to Saxifrage.

_It’s going to be the same. Will it be the same?_   
_Maybe she’s only nice because you need her. She’ll go when she realizes she can do better than you._   
_I told her everything. What if she already left? What if none of it was ever real?_   
_Saxifrage wouldn’t betray me. Saxifrage wouldn’t leave me._   
_It won’t be like all the other times._   
_Will it?_   
_I have to go back._

I barely registered the walk back to the derelict cabin we’d repurposed. The fog warped around me, and the battered houses along the way faded into the periphery of my vision, which had tunneled into a razor focus on the doorway I was finally standing in front of again-

Another gut punch, tearing the air from my lungs. My boiling rage gave way to frozen grief.

The cabin was empty.

Saxifrage was gone.

I barged inside, checking every corner and every shadow, but it was true. Saxifrage was gone, and she’d taken all of our supplies and mapping materials with her.

_I knew it._

Disoriented, I staggered out of the abandoned house. I stumbled around in a circle, searching everywhere in sight for Saxifrage, but the fog had rolled in even denser, sabotaging my futile efforts.

_I knew it all along._

“Saxifrage?” My voice echoed against the nearby stone columns at the outskirts of the ruined village, and I turned around again. _“Saxifrage?”_

The only thing that responded to me was empty silence, and suddenly I felt more alone than I’d ever felt since I met her. I told myself to move on and pick up the pieces like always, but I couldn’t go. At the very least, I needed to make sure she was safe and hadn’t gotten herself into the trouble she predictably would.

I ran forward, letting my claws guide me through the ruins. Dust and jagged pebbles sifted through my talons, and the humid air condensed in my throat as I breathed. Coughing, I stood in the town square, stumbling door to door to try and find Saxifrage. Bitter despair twisted my expression.

_“SKYWING!”_

_I’m so sorry._   
_Please come back. I’ll keep to myself. I’m sorry._   
_You didn’t really leave me here, did you?_

Seeing a structure down a nearby street that hadn’t completely collapsed on itself, I pushed in through the rotted doorway. I’d almost thought I’d found Saxifrage as I spotted a figure in the corner of the room, but the air suddenly felt a thousand times colder as I realized it was only the stark white remains of an IceWing skeleton from the aftermath of the Plague.

Tearing my gaze away, I continued my search, but I found nothing more. Eventually, I stood at Crystallofolia’s edges, staring into the mist with shriveled hope. I wasn’t sure whether to continue screaming for Saxifrage to come back, or whether I was just wasting the air I was gasping for.

_Why? Why does nothing ever change?_

Her voice came from behind me when I finally heard a reply. “Citrine?”

I turned around. Just a few tail-lengths away, Saxifrage was standing there, watching. The whole world seemed to implode around me as I finally met her ruby eyes again, and all of my panic was washed away by a wave of nearly dizzying relief.

I sprinted towards her thoughtlessly, but immediately slowed as the broken bits of questions began to fill my head. Inexplicably, frustration came trickling back, forcing my tongue. “Where were you?!” As soon as the accusatory words flew out of my mouth, I felt their razor edges on my lips.

Saxifrage stared at me, speechless. I watched the expressions on her face shift, from confusion, to hurt, to irritation. “What do you mean? Where have _you_ been?! I’ve been looking for you since I woke up!”

Her white tail lashed, and I choked down the apology I wanted to say. I’d finally gotten the fallout I’d always expected, but it still stung.

_But you left me. You left me all alone in this place where I lost everything._   
_You know. I told you. I never should’ve told you. You’re just like everyone else!_   
_You left me._

The thin layer of frozen shock gave way to the inferno of hatred I’d suppressed for so long. “Are you kidding me?!” I was roaring now, all other emotions floored as I glowered at her face that had gone slack with surprise and fear. _“Are you kidding me?!_ You run off without telling me, taking all of our stuff with you and leaving me in this...this place! What was I supposed to think?! What was I supposed to _feel?!”_

Saxifrage’s fear vanished and she took a defiant step towards me, roaring back and flaring her long wings in indignation. “I ran off because _YOU_ were missing when I woke up! _MISSING!_ So I went to look for you, okay?! I seriously thought something bad could have happened to you, especially after everything that happened yesterday! So I went to look for you! I mean, the alternative-” Saxifrage hiccuped, and I realized she was beginning to cry. “I couldn’t let myself believe you’d just...that you’d just leave me-”

I ignored her last words, too blinded with anger to really think about what she was trying to say. “Stop acting like you’re better than everyone else! You think I don’t notice? You think I’d ever believe that someone like you would ever want to be around me for real? I’m not your charity case to make yourself feel better about not having a social life outside the conversations you have with yourself about your stupid wishes and worthless dreams! You’re just as fake and selfish as everyone else is!”

Tears were streaming down Saxifrage’s cheeks, but she still took another step towards me, her gaze searching. “I-Is this about last night? Did I put too much pressure on you?” I snarled, and she flinched. “What did I do wrong?”

“You talk too much and you keep prying into my business and you’ve never been anything but _useless_ since I met you!” I spat, and Saxifrage’s face crumpled. “I don’t want to be around you! I hate who I am when I’m next to you!”

“I’m t-trying my best-”

“It’s the same story, over and over and _over!_ It’s just like it was back then! Iceblink acted like some holy angel and played me right into her claws and then she _broke_ me and threw me away!” I yelled. “When will you admit that you don’t actually care about me?! When will you leave?”

_Don’t leave._

Saxifrage’s face went blank with horror, and then her teeth bared into a snarl. “You think I’m like _her?_ What in the world have I ever done to you to make you equate me to _Iceblink_ of all dragons? Just go have your pity party alone like you always do and get over yourself. Haven’t I been a good enough friend? You told me I wasn’t useless. I actually thought someone needed me, for once. Why can’t you just trust me?”

“How am I supposed to trust you? _YOU LEFT ME ALL ALONE IN THIS PLACE!”_ I didn’t know where the roar had come from, only that it had scraped my throat raw with my shattered emotions and left me gasping for breath, tears pricking at my eyes. They finally spilled over, and I broke down. “Why am I like this?”

Saxifrage didn’t say anything.

“It’s because of me, isn’t it? It always ends like this because of me,” I choked out.

The SkyWing in front of me reached up tentatively, wiping away the tears staining my face so lightly I could barely feel her touch. “...It’s my fault. For assuming you’d miraculously be fine after one talk. And you’re right. I need to stop being so dependent. I haven’t done anything useful for you.”

“It’s not your fault at all,” I said desperately. Anyone else would have heard what I said and hated me for it without another thought. Why did she have to listen so closely and take all my words to heart the way I would? Too late, I realized that we weren’t that different at all, and that maybe Saxifrage’s self-esteem wasn’t as high as I’d always assumed behind her bubbly personality. Why hadn’t I noticed earlier, during all of the long talks we had? “I didn’t mean what I said. I was angry. I was the one who broke your trust. You’ve done so much for me; you’re anything but useless. I-I need you.”

“You don’t have to say stuff just to make me feel better,” Saxifrage whispered. “And you don’t have to worry. I’m not planning on leaving you.”

“I won’t leave you either,” I replied automatically. Before I could think about it, I clasped my claws around one of hers, holding Saxifrage’s talons like they were delicate butterflies.

She stared at our intertwined talons for a long moment before looking back up at me and smiling with closed lips, but I could see the strain in her cheeks and the doubt in her eyes. It clicked for me then, and every other emotion was washed away by guilt. Saxifrage was probably as terrified of abandonment as I was, and I’d done nothing but push her away today. How deeply had I hurt her?

_I hate it here. I hate what this place does to me._   
_I hate what I end up doing to us._

It hit me that I might lose Saxifrage not to any disgust or contempt she held for me, but to her own disappointment in herself. And if I played any part in exacerbating the problem, I’d never forgive myself.

“Saxifrage. I’m sorry.”

She pulled her talons from my gentle grip, still smiling up at me. “It’s okay.”

I knew it wasn’t.


	39. Promises at Dawn ~ 4.4

~Luminescent~

Gradually, I came to an awareness, as if I was waking from sleep. Summer sun poured into my eyes, and the branches of dark pines swayed in slow motion above me, veiled in hazy afternoon light. Somewhere to my right, water glittered in a tumbling stream, but the sound was dampened into near silence. The rosy scenery blurred at the edges of my vision, something about it not quite tangible.

But the pieces clicked. I wasn’t missing a thing. I’d spent so long wandering through the dark, lining up the broken shards only to be disappointed with the empty holes in my reality. At least it all finally made sense. The memories I’d searched so long for coalesced into a flowing waterfall in my mind, crashing down softly through all the nonsensical nightmares and migraines, welding every jagged piece into perfect smoothness until I was whole again.

The world around me finally came into focus, although still tinted by warm sunlight. I blinked away the last of the reaching darkness, looking around the forested clearing, searching-

And I saw them.

Viperfish, my father, still in his prime, faint crows’ feet just starting to set in. He was all shimmering cobalt scales and aquamarine wings, like the sea after a summer storm. The tallest pillar in my life, reaching into heavens beyond my sight.

Next to him was Brinicle - silver horns and scales, graced with faint watercolor blushes of azure and midnight blue. Eyes like the frozen abyss, reaching out to me with all their untamed power.

I wanted to walk towards them. I wanted to be protected by them again, but I couldn’t take a single step. The way they looked at me wrenched at my heart, somewhere between longing and an admission of guilt, and I knew that my place wasn’t with them anymore.

My father’s mouth moved, and my ears strained, trying to make out the words. They were so faint…

I looked towards Brinicle for help, but my sister’s face was wet with shining tears. She stepped towards me, reaching with her wings, blocking the light reflecting off of the river behind her. Father didn’t move from where he stood. After I blinked, I could see the torture in his eyes, pulling him somewhere miles away from where Brinicle and I were standing.

The sun was too bright, and the sound of the wind was too loud in my ears. Something was wrong, wasn’t it? I was still missing pieces. A dark hole yawned in my mind, tearing at the newly-stitched seams around it, begging me to take notice. What had I forgotten?

No wonder my father and sister looked at me as if I was some glass figure about to shatter. No wonder Brinicle’s claws hovered above my scales, not quite touching, as if a single contact would cause me to break into a million glittering shards. I was too fragile. A single careless drop would send me spiraling, cleaving my mind to pieces again. I was delicate, and I would forget.

Brinicle edged towards me once more, spreading her wings to block the flowing waters behind her, and I knew she was trying to hide something. I tried to peer over her shoulder, but she pushed me back, some inaudible scolding on her lips.

What was I missing?

Some inexplicable spring of anger bubbled up inside me, and I shoved my sister aside. The gaping void in my mind closed abruptly. And then the sun vanished from the sky, drowned by a huge gray cloud that cast the world into pale shadow. The clearing was put into startling clarity.

Beyond Brinicle, on the banks of the river.

The body of a female IceWing, lying limp on the rocks, her head half-submerged in the water. The river was colored dark as the ocean, a cloud of inky blue floating around the dragoness’s horns. Through her head, clean through an eye, was a harpoon. The metal blade flashed silver as the sun emerged from behind the clouds again.

This time, I wasn’t blinded.

This time, I was running past my sister, running for the IceWing lying splayed on the slippery shore. I splashed into the shallows, holding up the dragoness’s face in my talons and screaming her name.

Why couldn’t I hear myself?

My father was roaring something at me, but his words were washed away by the sound of the wind. Or was it the river? Brinicle was in tears, her face crumpled and sobbing like I’d never seen before. Where was the relentless dragoness I knew? The one who’d always fearlessly taken her place as my shield?

My gaze returned to the IceWing’s face in my talons.

One of her eyes was still untouched. It was sterling silver, just like my own. She was staring straight at the sun, or nowhere at all, and the iris glittered like forgotten stars. Her head slipped from my talons and splashed back into the river, distorted by the water running around it and shrouded by fatal blue.

The pieces fell into place. I remembered.

Suddenly, my ears opened themselves to sound, and I could hear the name I was screaming to the IceWing, lying broken in the water.

_“MOTHER!”_

**. . .**

I jolted awake, so hard that I tumbled out of the stone ledge that was my bed and onto the floor. My skull bounced off the ground, and white lights danced in my vision for a good minute as I held my head and groaned.

It had always been like this. I wasn’t sure where the problem had started, but it was probably rooted in the stressed, blurred days before Brinicle and I had arrived at the Compound. Whatever traumatic event happened would be sorted into the back of some closet deep inside my mind, where everything was fragmented and distorted, and it would be erased from my memories. Once they knew I was stable enough that an explanation wouldn’t send me spiraling again, either Father or Brinicle would fill in the gaps for me. Sometimes, the memories would randomly come flooding back, but most of the time, all I had were my family’s watered-down accounts. Trying to force a memory only gave me migraines.

But Brinicle wasn’t here anymore, and Father had been absent for even longer. I’d been told what had happened to Mother long ago, but the memory resurfacing left burning tears spilling over my cheeks. My head still pounded from the fall.

_I don’t know much about you, but I miss you._   
_Maybe if those scouts hadn’t shot you down, we would have been free for longer. Maybe we’d all still be a family._   
_But you’re gone, and Father left us, and Brinicle is locked away. How do I go on from here, when all of you are so far away?_

I leaned against the side of my bed and gathered the thin blanket into my arms, burying my face in the cloth and suppressing the tears. It wasn’t right of me to feel guilty, but I still was. At least I’d finally been blessed with a clear path back to Brinicle. Even if I couldn’t piece together the rest of our family, we would have each other, just like how it used to be. Partners in crime, carving our own path.

If only it wasn’t Sunstone who stood in my way. He deserved better than what I was doing to him. His fragmented reality mirrored mine, and I knew I could help him put the pieces together like no one had done for me, but I didn’t. Because no one truly loved him or sacrificed for him like Brinicle had for me. He wasn’t treasured by anyone, and that made me a little less shameful.

Sunstone wasn’t someone that dragons would sacrifice for. He was the sacrifice.

I planned to keep it that way, even though it tore me up inside.

Oh, right. I’d promised him a tour of the catacombs at midnight, hadn’t I? I was probably already late, after the nap I’d taken. I didn’t even feel rested. There was a small frown on my face as I untangled the blanket from my arms and crawled under my bed into the catacombs, closing the trapdoor tight behind me. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too upset with me, but that wasn’t my biggest concern anyway. Even if he ended up reporting me to Iceblink like he’d offered to do in the first place, it wouldn’t matter, now that I was working for her. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

_It isn’t so hard. Lying is easier than telling the truth anway._   
_Once this is all over and Brinicle is by my side again, I’ll be able to forget he ever existed._

The walk through the catacombs to Sunstone’s library entrance was quick, only about ten minutes at the most, but it still felt like forever. When his secret passageway came into view with my weak night vision, I could see the outline of a dragon waiting beside it. For a moment, I wondered if I should just abandon it all and leave him hanging, just so I wouldn’t have to take responsibility for all the misleading things I’d have to say, but I had a job to do. Iceblink wasn’t just expecting me to keep Sunstone complacent. She needed me to dig up whoever was feeding him the information she hadn’t processed first.

It wasn’t like that was actually my priority, though. I’d choke on my own tail before I became anything like Iceblink’s chosen lapdogs.

“Hey,” I said, quiet enough that I didn’t startle Sunstone. His head turned in my direction, searching for me through the darkness. “Am I late?”

“Just a little,” Sunstone replied. The shadows over his face shifted in a way that suggested he was smiling. “So where are you taking me tonight?”

“Around the catacombs closest to Firn. Those are the only ones that you might ever find useful, anyway. We can wait before I show you everything deeper in the mountain, and you’d better not go exploring on your own either - the tunnels turn into a labyrinth down below.” I let my glow-in-the-dark scales come to life, filling a short area of the tunnel with frosty blue light.

I only had a few, compared to a regular SeaWing. It made it impossible for me to speak any Aquatic, although my father had tried his best to teach me a simplified version. The few glowing scales that I had were located on my snout, neck, chest, and underbelly, along with a scattered talonful on my arms. They were all diamond-shaped. Their brightness was also nothing when you put them next to a true SeaWing’s scales. They shone bright enough that they could light up any dark area just fine, but in full daylight the effect was barely visible.

Sunstone’s face was filled with wonder as he watched my scales light up. “You’ve already done that a bunch of times, but I still think you’re so pretty all lit up like that. I-I mean, it’s such a pretty trick.”

“Oh, this isn’t anything special. I’ve got far more interesting skills,” I said, shamelessly basking in the attention.

“Really? Like what?” After seeing the massive smirk on my face, Sunstone rolled his eyes. “Actually, tell me later. All SeaWings can do that, right?”

“I’m only half SeaWing,” I clarified, “but yes.”

Sunstone’s eyes widened again. “Oh, you’re a hybrid too?”

I did a double take. I’d just assumed that Sunstone was a SandWing from the start, but now, looking at him... While his complexion was mostly sand-pale, ruby freckles dusted him all along his face, neck, and tail. His eyes were amber, molten gold like the sunrise, instead of the obsidian that SandWing eyes usually were. The color was somehow achingly familiar.

He also only had blunt spines and an ordinary tapered tail-tip, unlike a SandWing’s frill and tail barb. The thing about him that stood out the most after scrutiny, however, were the disproportionately long wings that he practically bore like the train of a cloak. I’d assumed their appearance was because of a lack of flight experience, but now, it was clear that it was something far more simple.

“Oh, you’re part SkyWing.” I didn’t need to ask.

“Am I being weird about it?” he asked hurriedly. “I’m sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve known anyone who’s had something like that in common with me.”

A shadow passed over his face, but he chased it away with a smile. I could still see the discomfort and embarrassment on his face, though. “No need to be sorry. Tell me more, if you want.”

“Really? Thanks,” Sunstone said, and his smile became genuine. “My mother was a SandWing, and my father was a SkyWing. Their names were Javelina and Cyclone. My brother said they were scouts sent from their kingdoms to explore the Rift. Anyway, they weren’t supposed to fall in love, but they did, and now I’m here.”

“You have a brother? I thought you were alone in Firn,” I commented.

Sunstone’s smile vanished, and he looked away. “I...I had a brother. Sorry. I don’t really like talking about it.”

_Oh._

“I understand,” I said softly. Sunstone glanced up at me in surprise, his eyes glittering, but not from happiness.

“I don’t really think you do,” he said.

_I do._   
_But I can’t exactly tell you about Brinicle, can I? That would be a little too honest, I think. Either way, I guess I was partly wrong. You had dragons that loved you and sacrificed for you before. No doubt that it’s Iceblink who took them away._   
_I can’t believe I’m doing this._

“Well,” I said, deciding not to pursue the subject, “We passed this area the other day, but I’m going to show you down this other branch of tunnels instead. It’s like this tiny little network around Firn.”

Sunstone bounced a little on his next step forward. “Sounds interesting! Let’s go.”

I toured him around the closest few tunnels, describing where they went and how to remember directions so that he wouldn’t get lost again. When we reached another fork in the tunnels, I turned to the one on the left and gestured vaguely at it with my tail.

“If you go that way, it goes down to lower tunnels that branch to literally wherever you could want to go in the Compound. Secret entrances to the catacombs are everywhere down there, if you know where to look. They even connect to my dorm.” I nodded at Sunstone. “It’s late, so I’ll take you some other time. You should memorize what I’ve showed you tonight first too, otherwise I’m worried you’ll get overwhelmed and forget.”

“Okay,” Sunstone said reluctantly. I didn’t say it, but I was impressed by his tireless curiosity. “I’m just wondering, but - could you ever show me around the Compound? Like, not just the catacombs, but the actual facilities and stuff? It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’ve never been downstairs before.”

His gaze was so hopeful, but I knew I couldn’t. “I’m sorry,” I said, surprised that I meant it. Sunstone’s face was immediately crestfallen, and he reminded me so much of a sad puppy that I couldn’t just shut down the conversation there. “Hey, maybe one day?”

Sunstone gave me a look. “You don’t mean that.”

I sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s nothing I have any say in, unfortunately. My hands are tied. You already know I’m not well liked by anyone authoritative, so I can’t risk doing anything that’ll hurt my rank even more. What we’re doing now is already pushing it. Your record is clean, right? I’m not going to be the one to tarnish that.”

Sunstone nodded. “Okay, I get it. Maybe if I talked to Iceblink about it, though-”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I interrupted. Something like that would get Iceblink thinking I was trying to lead Sunstone in the opposite direction she wanted. “She keeps you close by in Firn for a reason. I’d trust her judgement instead of making too many requests, especially since she has so much on her plate already.”

_I almost wish lying to your face was harder._

“You’re right, I guess,” he said, finally agreeing with me. “At least you seem to have a lot of respect for Iceblink. Everyone else I know acts so weird and touchy about her. Even my tutor, Flurry - he’s second-in-command, did you know that? - has to be all secretive and insidious around her. It’s the most irritating thing. It’s like they don’t know her at all, because there’s no reason to be that flippant and petty at all.”

_Flurry, huh? Who knew the second-in-command spent all his time tutoring instead of doing anything actually important around the Compound? Well, looks like I’ve got a lead for Iceblink’s case now._   
_I’ll worry about it later. No need to rush, especially if Flurry’s working against her._

I smiled vaguely. “I agree. I wonder what makes dragons feel that way around her. Maybe they’re jealous of her authority or something. I guess it’s true that the ones at the top are the loneliest. Good thing Iceblink has you around.”

“I thought about the jealousy theory too,” Sunstone exclaimed, nudging my shoulder. “It’s the only possibility that makes any sense. Anyway, I’ve never really thought about it before, but I guess you’re right that she might be lonely. I hope she doesn’t actually feel that way. She’s like a mother to me, and I don’t know where I’d be without her support, so I’m hoping that she sees me as a son and that I can give back to her one day. Five years ago, my life was a mess, and it was her who stepped in and guided me to where I am now. I’ll forever be thankful for that.”

I couldn’t listen to this anymore. “Hey, it’s getting late, don’t you think? We should start heading back.”

_Five years._   
_Five whole years, stolen._   
_Why? What’s the point of it all? In what world is anything worth taking a dragon’s autonomy away for five years? And for how long does Iceblink plan to puppet him around?_

Sunstone looked startled, and I briefly wondered if he’d caught on to my disgust before he smiled again. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I lost track of the time, sorry. I guess I’ll head back now, then.”

He shook out his wings and dusted himself off, turning back in the direction of his rooms.

“I’ll walk you to your rooms,” I offered. Letting him go alone didn’t sit right with me.

“You don’t have to,” Sunstone said. “Thanks to you, I can do it on my own now. I can finally navigate around a bit after what you taught me.”

“Then walk me back to your rooms instead,” I insisted, smirking. “And you can prove that you were a good student tonight. If you can’t do it, then I’m not showing you around the catacombs further down.”

“I was going to say that you’re a gentleman for the offer, but after this coercion, I unfortunately have to retract my statement,” Sunstone sniffed.

“Need I remind you how you, ahem, _persuaded_ me into touring you around the catacombs in the first place?”

Sunstone pouted for a moment. “Well, now I have to un-retract my statement. What a gentleman. I’ll walk you, if you insist.”

I grinned. “You bet I’m insisting.”

When we reached the secret entrance that Sunstone’s rooms connected to, Sunstone opened the passageway quietly and stepped through. Turning back to face me, he squeezed my front talons with his own for a short moment before smiling at me again.

_Oh, that’s adorable._

I squeezed back before Sunstone let my talons go, speaking to me. “Thank you for tonight. I had fun.”

I nodded, glancing at my talons and wondering what the subtext was for sudden claw-holding. “Anytime.”

“Could we do this again? It doesn’t have to be soon. But I really like talking to you, and we seem to get along so well,” Sunstone said, tilting his head.

“Of course. Whenever you want.”

“I know it’s soon, but how about tomorrow night?”

A lopsided grin hopped onto my face. “Sure.”

“That’s great.” Sunstone stepped back, partially closing the passageway and peeking out at me through the gap in between the raised trapdoor and the wall. “I’ll see you then.”

I could hear the smile in his voice as he started to close the passageway completely. “Yeah, I’ll see you.”

_Three moons, I’m in trouble._


	40. Promises at Dawn ~ 4.4.5 ~ IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: explicit gore.**
> 
> We wrote in verse for some parts of these chapters! It was fun to play around with :)

~XXXXXXXX~

I woke up slowly to dim light filtered through the window, colored white and cold like the winter dawn. Huge, fluffy snowflakes floated down through the opening and peppered my scales with tiny pricks of sensation before they dissolved, leaving only crystal droplets behind. A breeze tumbled through, sending in another gentle flurry, and my wings rustled. Something tickled at the back of my brain, and I reached for the thought, grasping through the fog of sleep. Gradually, it dawned on me.

_It’s my hatching day._   
_I’m ten now._

Somehow, the revelation wasn’t as monumental as I’d imagined it would be. But maybe I should have expected the letdown after years of the same forgotten celebrations.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, shaking the last of my exhaustion from my head, and blinked. To my right, the stone table had been overturned. The vase that had rested atop it was in shards on the ground, wilted flowers strewn across the room, and the frozen dirt floor had been raked up into crumbled soil, as if someone had clawed countless gashes into it with their talons.

The temperature of the room seemed to drop as I took the scene in, and my breath caught as I realized the thing I should have noticed first.

_Where are my parents?_

Oh, that was right. The Ice Cliff had collapsed, a mysterious illness had caused several outbreaks, and my town was caught in a lockdown. My father had run to the workshop last night to close up the shop and take spare change from the register. But my mother...

She was gone. It was as if she’d never been here, as if no one had ever been here, but the destruction around me told me otherwise. I reached out a talon, tracing one of the gashes in the floor.

_“...the patient had gone mad, after an onset of extreme fatigue, muscle pain, fever and chills, loss of coordination, incoherent speech, psychotic delusions, and aggressive behavior…”_   
_What if our town is already infected?_   
_Can disease travel that fast? Penitentes is already at least six hours away, and Crystallofolia is almost directly behind the Ice Cliff. Or what was the Ice Cliff..._   
_It must really be animus magic._   
_Is the town infected? Where are my parents? Why isn’t Father back yet?_

Uncertainty coiled around my neck, tightening slowly, and I rose to my claws, taking a trembling step backwards, my eyes on the door - now that I looked, it was ever so slightly ajar, one of the hinges swinging free.

Cold, faintly sour-smelling breath hit the back of my neck, raising the spines on my neck, and I stumbled around to glimpse a pallid figure out of the corner of my eye. I crashed into the legs of the overturned table, nearly collapsing with relief as I finally recognized that the ghostly figure was only my mother - Wintergreen must have been standing behind me the entire time - but I hesitated.

Her posture was stiff, joints bent in places that didn’t quite seem natural, as if she was a puppet on strings. Her breath came in shallow, ragged inhales, and left her body in rasping sighs like the sound of cracking ice. She held her wings slightly aloft and splayed to either side, and her talons twitched, sinking into the ground slightly. Wintergreen had always been pale, even for an IceWing, but now her scales looked dry and faded, like shed snakeskins. 

And then I saw her eyes, and my blood turned to cold slush.

My mother’s eyes had turned the color of blood. IceWing blood. The deep shade of blue twisted engorged veins around my soul, suffocating me, scattering my mind into terrified pieces until I couldn’t put a coherent thought together. Most IceWings had either pale blue or gray eyes, occasionally silver, but never the shade of blue that ran inside of us. It just didn’t happen. No IceWing had ever been born with blood-colored eyes in all of recorded history.

Mother never blinked, but her talons twitched. Her cobalt eyes were vacant and heartbreakingly distant, staring straight at me but simultaneously far beyond the place I stood. She looked as if she’d seen _everything,_ and it had finally broken her. Wintergreen took a halting step towards me, tail dragging lifelessly behind her like a dead weight or a rotted limb. Her lips were strained at the edges, showing all of her teeth in some kind of unrecognizable smile, and her figure loomed pale and stilted like a ghost.

_She’s infected._

All at once, she launched herself at me with startling speed, catching me completely off guard. I screamed, diving out of the way just in time. Running to the wall and whirling around, I choked as my mother spun midair and crashed against the opposite wall, writhing on the floor for a moment before she dragged herself upright again. Without missing a beat, she lunged for me with jagged talons outstretched, a hollow roar echoing out between her gaping teeth.

Unable to move or close my eyes, I could only watch wide-eyed as my mother’s aim failed her and she flew past me, slamming into the wall headfirst with a force that made the entire house shake. She collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll, claws scrabbling at the wall and wings jerking sporadically.

I wanted to scream again, but my body had gone numb. Carefully, I inched my way over to my mother, barely noticing the pricks of pain in my palms from the shards of stone and ice that had fallen from the ceiling. When I hesitated by her side, Wintergreen whipped around suddenly, teeth snapping dangerously close to my arms, and I skittered backwards, all the air knocked out of me when I saw the damage to her face.

Her nose was bleeding gushes of blue the same color as her eyes, and a thin trail of blood escaped from her left ear. The middle of her forehead had been violently bruised, and her skull was visibly dented inwards, crushing against her brain until her eyes bulged. The thin layer of scales protecting her head had split, pouring blood and unrecognizable gray mush between broken shards of bone. An azure smear was left in the spot where her head had hit the wall.

I reached for my mother, not quite comprehending what I was seeing, but she jerked away from me, slamming the side of her head back into the wall with an audible crack. Her movements stilled abruptly, but I could still hear her agonized breathing, eerily loud in the silence.

Not knowing what else to do, I gently stroked her head where it was still intact, and her talons twitched. My palms were sticky with her blood, but I kneeled in front of my mother, cradling her head in my lap and trying to pull her closer.

“Mommy?” I whimpered. It had been years since I’d called her that, but I had some sort of irrational, vain hope that by saying the word, I’d somehow be transported back to the past, when the future hadn’t looked so bleak and meaningless. A trail of foamy drool trickled from the corner of Wintergreen’s mouth, and I wiped it away gently. _“Mommy?”_

I laid my head on her chest, straining my ears to hear the sound of her heart, still pumping the rhythm I’d heard as a tiny hatchling.

_This isn’t my mother anymore._   
_This isn’t the dragon Father fell in love with. This isn’t the dragon who raised me, loved me, and fought with me every single day of my life. Why can’t you wake up and yell at me again?_   
_This isn’t anybody I know. This isn’t anybody I loved._   
_This is just a monster._   
_This is what the plague does._   
_This is what Icefall does._   
_Am I doomed to lose everything? How do I ever fight back against this? A real hero wouldn’t just lie here and give up. I thought I was a hero._   
_Am I just a casualty?_   
_This isn’t my mother. This can’t be my mother._

I still cried when I realized that I couldn’t hear her heartbeat anymore, and that the rattle of her breath had turned silent.

**. . .**

The dirt floor was too frozen to bury her, and the quarantine left me too terrified to venture outside for a proper burial, so I’d arranged Wintergreen’s body in the corner of the room slowly, dragging her into place as I arranged her wings around her. I’d folded her arms over her chest, but no matter how I tried to prop up her shattered skull, it would twist and fall over onto its side again. Her blood-hued eyes stared into space, everywhere and nowhere, but I couldn’t bring myself to close them. Shutting those fragile, leathery windows would make my mother’s passing far too real to bear.

The midwinter air had left the house too cold for the corpse to rot. Instead, it became slowly discolored as the hours passed, extremities turning violet-black and then shriveling deep blue as frost started to eat them away. It stiffened and bloated, blood freezing and drying, before its limbs slowly relaxed again, untouched and unmoved from the position I’d arranged them in. The faint smell of sickness hung in the air like a miasma, suffocating me slowly, and blood-colored eyes stared at me from wherever I stood. Sometimes, I would stand over the body, talons hovering above its eyelids, but I would always back down, unable to touch them again. So the corpse watched me without blinking.

I would have left the house and flown far, far away, disregarding the lockdown completely, but I was too scared of what I might find beyond. More and more often, I would hear the roars of the infected and the screams of the ones they attacked, often too close for comfort, and then I would pray to the moons that no one ever found me. 

Some nights, I heard the frantic scrabbling of talons at the makeshift door and at the window, or the screams of dragons on the streets. Others, the world was quiet. Too quiet, and I would wake in the small hours just after midnight just because of how silent it was. 

I had to stick to the quarantine. Had to stay with the bleak routine set on that first day, even if I starved. I wasn’t ready to face whatever might be outside. There wasn’t any food left from our meager days before the plague. The water had frozen. My father had never returned from the workshop. I was beginning to lose track of the days I’d been inside. The only thing in my memory that remained crystal clear was a pair of dead eyes, pervasive and ever-watchful from the corner of the room. The only thing I could feel was poisonous guilt and grief, and even as my heart started to crack under their weight and my mind started to fail me, I felt numb.

And I felt hungry. So, so hungry. It was like there was another insatiable being inside of me, slowly gnawing away at my ribs and turning my stomach into an empty void. I would smell food in the air, just underneath the sour sickness, and it would torture me because I knew it was all a delusion and that there wasn’t any food anymore.

No wonder my mother had always been wary of heroes and the tragedy they inevitably brought before any prosperity. Because none of us were born to be protagonists - we were just the victims doomed to suffering in silence until the real savior came storming in. Even so, I couldn’t help but wish that one day there would be a world that was controlled by my claws, where I wrote the stories and erased the villains.

But I was nobody, and I was trapped, all alone in a claustrophobic house with nothing and no one except for the body in the corner. The dead body that watched me with eyes that couldn’t see; with eyes that I didn’t dare blind by closing.

The worst part was that it was painless, and I hated it. My life had been torn to shreds, and somehow, I lay untouched at the center of the ruins. I’d been cruelly spared, and I started to long for the suffering so many of my tribe had already gone through.

I didn’t realize how the lines between numbness and anguish had been blurred until it was too late; that the smell of sickness no longer came from the corpse but from myself, and the body in the corner never stopped watching.

**. . .**

Pain.  
So much pain, and every bit of it  
was radiating and pulsating  
from my head in a cacophonous, discordant symphony.

Pain.   
It felt like knives slowly dragging through my skull,   
turning my brain to mush and spilling blue darkness through my vision.

Pain.  
It seemed to ripple through my bones, across my soul,   
into the very ground I’d collapsed on   
in a massive wave of something   
eldritch,   
ancient,   
and irresistibly, impossibly  
powerful.

Pain.  
Even after I blacked out,   
even after I’d fallen unconscious,   
the pain was still there.   
Always, always there,   
just like the empty, bloodshot eyes   
watching me   
from the corner of the stagnant room.

Pain.  
Someone had started   
screaming.   
It was a long,   
shrill,   
keening wail   
that seemed to come from   
everywhere   
and nowhere,   
all at once,   
shaking the bones in my head   
and making my ears ring.   
It wouldn’t stop.   
It couldn’t stop.   
I wanted it to   
stop,   
but the sound was   
eternal   
and filled with…

Pain.

Oh.  
It was   
me.


	41. Promises at Dawn ~ 4.4.5 ~ V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: explicit gore, self-harm, suicidal ideation + attempt**

~XXXXXXXX~

My throat felt like  
it had been scraped raw  
with sharp pebbles,  
so I’d closed my mouth  
in defeat.

I couldn’t remember when the   
pain  
had become too much.  
I couldn’t scream anymore.

But the tinny wailing   
still rang in my ears   
like I’d never stopped. 

I wanted to tear my ears off   
just to make the horrible sound go away,   
but I resisted,   
clenching my fists so hard   
I could feel the tips of my talons   
tearing into my palms.

I didn’t care.

The pain   
was still radiating from my head,   
weaker than before but still intolerable.   
Dead eyes still watched my suffering   
from the corner of the room   
that was beginning   
to smell of something foul.   
All of my vision   
was tinged with blue,   
the kind of blue   
that matched the dried liquid on the floor,   
and at the base of the wall.   
Patches of darkness  
exploded in front of my eyes when the   
pain   
in my head flared.

I wanted to hurt someone   
so that the strange, hungry itch in my claws   
would disappear.

I wanted to rip those watchful eyes to ribbons   
just so I wouldn’t feel their gaze   
on my pallid scales anymore.

I wanted to kill myself   
so that I wouldn’t constantly smell   
my putrid breath,   
or constantly feel  
my body, breaking down, or the  
pain  
in my head,  
if only I could just   
end it all   
right here.

Nothing was worth   
this pain,   
and I was tired of   
enduring.   
Tired of telling myself   
that everything would be alright,   
even though nothing never was   
and nothing never would be.

Mother was long gone.   
Father was nowhere to be seen.   
He must’ve ran away like a coward,   
or maybe he was already dead,  
like everyone else.  
I had nothing left,   
did I?

But I couldn’t do it.   
I couldn’t uncurl my talons   
from the fists they’d made.   
It hurt far too much   
to bring my arms   
to the base of my neck,   
where I vaguely felt   
the thrumming of my blood   
in strained arteries.

So I kept enduring   
the pain   
and insanity in my head,   
listening to the screaming   
in my ears that had   
become a wordless,   
senseless   
song.

The eyes   
in the corner   
kept   
watching.

**. . .**

I was cold.  
My blood felt like it had turned to  
ice.

My teeth felt like   
they were covered in   
frost. 

I couldn’t feel the tip of my tail,   
and my horns felt like   
icicles.

IceWings weren’t supposed to feel cold  
but I didn’t care.  
The inside of my mind  
was an abstract painting,  
black and blue,  
not a work of art,  
just a bruise.

I felt something,   
someone staring at me,   
and it wasn’t   
the eyes in the corner. 

Something eldritch   
and ancient   
and irresistible  
slithered past me like a dead snake,   
but when I turned to look,   
there was only empty air and   
a void.

There was only empty air and blackness   
that was impossibly cold,   
sending a nauseous ripple through my soul.

The pain   
in my head   
raged on.

**. . .**

Everything was silent. Blissfully, heartbreakingly silent.

The endless screaming in my head had been there one moment and then - it had just stopped. As if it had all been a dream.

_Nightmare. Not a dream._

The world was still. Tiny snowflakes swirled in through the small window, touching my scales lightly, and I inhaled. I hadn’t realized that I’d been holding my breath. It was the middle of the night, and when I looked through the window, I could see only darkness and the twinkle of stars. Beyond the walls of my house, I knew the danger hadn’t passed, but I just felt relieved.

I didn’t feel cold anymore. The pain was gone. My head still throbbed slightly, and my throat burned, but it was nothing compared to what had been raging through my brain moments before. And my sanity was in one piece. For the moment.

_What happened?_   
_So much hurting, so much pain, just there and then gone in an instant?_   
_Was it all a horrible nightmare?_

But I still felt the familiar sensation of someone staring at me from the corner of the room, and I knew that it was all real. Every bit of it, even if I had no real explanations to offer myself and couldn’t think of any comforting lies. Slowly, I turned to face the corpse, only a shadowed blur in the midnight darkness, meeting its empty eyes. The faint putrid smell had gotten more pungent, although the corpse’s discolored scales were covered with a thin layer of frost and snow that had drifted in through the open window, faintly illuminated by moonlight.

“I’m sorry,” I rasped. My voice was hoarse and broken from my screaming, and it hurt even to whisper, but I didn’t care. “I’m sorry…”

My mother never answered, and I turned away.

Rising to my talons, I heard my joints creaking, and I winced. Cold air blew into the house, buffeting my wings, and I glanced towards the door - well, where the door had been, because there simply wasn’t a door anymore. Someone infected must have come by when I was sick and ripped away the door my father had repaired after the earthquake. Maybe it had been me.

I let out a shuddering breath and stepped shakily towards the opening, acutely aware of the void just beyond me.

_I can leave this world behind. I can walk forward. It’s okay if I have to walk alone. I never needed anyone anyway._   
_I survived the plague, and no one was there to help me. I can do anything if I can do that. I’m still in control. I’m still the protagonist of my own life._   
_And if I ever find you, Icefall, you’ll pay dearly. The IceWings will never forget._   
_I will walk forward._   
_I will walk alone._

I walked through the doorway and into the night.

**. . .**

The stars were deceptively bright, concealing the invisible darkness that seemed to be suffocating the city. The metallic smell of blood was heavy in the air, and I realized where it was coming from as I saw the body lying in the street at the bottom of the steps leading up to my ruined house.

A dragonet. Three years old, maybe less. Lying on their side and staring up at the dark sky with eyes the same sinister blue color that stained the ground around them. I leaned closer and froze when I saw why. Right in the middle of their tiny chest was a gaping hole, and impaled by the dragonet’s talons, cradled by their claws...

Was their heart.

The poor dragonet had ripped out their own heart.

I reached dully towards them before flinching away. I’d been sick. I’d caught the plague. I’d gone through the same pain as they had. Why hadn’t this happened to me?

_How did I survive? Why did I survive?_   
_Why them and not me?_   
_Why me, alone?_

With a choked sob, I turned and stumbled away from the body, not knowing where to go but knowing I had to go somewhere. I couldn’t stay at that house. I wasn’t brave enough to look at another IceWing corpse. I couldn’t bear to look at another pair of lifeless eyes as I staggered into a run, following the widest, emptiest roads even as the tears in my eyes blurred my vision until I had no idea where I was.

There were pale shapes in the alleys I ran past. Unmoving bodies were lit by moonlight, half-buried in fresh snow, and the infected loomed in contorted positions. The world was horribly quiet, but I could hear screaming somewhere far away. My world had gone dark, but I could still feel all of them watching me, dead and alive, bloodshot eyes following me into the unknown. I began to hyperventilate as I stumbled onto the cobblestone roads of the inner city.

_I’m alone. There’s no one left. I’m alone._   
_I thought that all the nightmares had ended, so why does it feel like I’ve woken up inside another?_

I had to get somewhere familiar. Somewhere safe.

A dragon lying on the cobblestones reached for my tail feebly, dark blue eyes seeing into my soul, and I ran harder than ever, muscles burning. My heart thundered in my ears, muffling the world around me, and my consciousness seemed to float far away from my body. I barely recognized my father’s workshop in the dark at the edge of the street. When it finally clicked, I staggered up the wooden steps and over the threshold, shutting the door tight behind me and locking it.

In the dim light, I slowly realized that a familiar dragon was sitting at the desk against the back wall, hunched over an array of half-carved stone statues. He tapped at a new rock with a tiny mallet, and it rang cheerfully like silver bells. It was Conifer.

My father.

_You locked yourself inside the workshop this whole time._   
_Why didn’t you come back like you said you would?_

I stepped towards him, wooden floorboards creaking under my claws. “Father?”

He didn’t reply. 

I shuffled forward another step. “...Father? I’m here.”

My father began to turn in his chair. I swore I could hear bones cracking, and I stepped back, suddenly uncertain. With a jolt, I realized that the rest of his body wasn’t turning. Only his neck twisted around, slowly, slowly-

_...What the…?_

My father’s head did a heart-stopping one-eighty to face me, and I nearly screamed when I saw his face, but my voice was still too shattered to make a sound. His eyes were gone. I realized that he was holding them in one of his talons. It was squished from the mallet, oozing clear liquid tinged with blue. There was nothing left of his eyes in his skull except dark, bloody craters sunken into his head, leaving thick trails of blue smeared down his cheeks.

Conifer’s lips slowly split into a gruesomely stretched smile, and somehow, he spoke with an alien, papery whisper. _“...My darling...”_

I racked my brain for escape. There was a shallow storm cellar in the storage room, where some statues were placed before being bought by customers. If I could just get there… I slowly inched towards the back of the workshop.

The edges of my Father’s smile turned ever so slightly downwards. _“...Don’t go…”_ The mutilated eye fell from his clenched talons as he reached towards me, hitting the floorboards with a wet thud.

I reached the door of the storage room just as Conifer pushed himself into a standing position, shaking with his head lolling to the side. My hand was on the doorknob now. “F-Father, please, just...”

Conifer took a halting step towards me. _“...Don’t be afraid.”_

He started walking towards me, staggering side to side from the weight of his limp neck, and I twisted the knob and ran into the back room, not pausing to close the door. Hurling a statue over my shoulder in an attempt to slow my father down or distract him, I dimly recognized it as the one that we had worked on together a few months ago. It was carved from white marble into the shape of an arctic fox. It had taken weeks to finish carving, and my father had spent a fortune just to get the fire opals for its eyes. The town official who’d ordered it had changed their mind hours before picking it up, and hadn’t bothered paying for the commission.

The statue shattered on the floor somewhere behind me, and I barely felt the sharp knife of pain as a shard of stone embedded itself into the back of my elbow.

_“...Come back...to me…”_

I reached the rack I had overturned what felt like a lifetime ago and heaved at it with all of my strength, shoving it over and shattering more stone figures on the ground as I made an abrupt turn to the left corner, which was completely covered in carved busts of dragons that had never been bought.

My father had called that area the “Petrified Garden,” and made it a home for all the statues that never sold, canceled orders, and abandoned passion projects. Knocking the stone figures out of the way with a sweep of my tail, I scrabbled at a dust-covered trapdoor with increasing urgency as I heard my father climbing over the fallen rack.

_“I will hold you...protect you...hurt you.”_

I finally managed to drag open the trapdoor and dove into the shallow space underneath, slamming it closed and locking it with a key that hung on a small hook on the underside of the door.

The crawl space felt like a coffin. It was barely large enough to hold one dragon, curled up with their wings tucked in, and it was oppressively dark. The space smelled like the mildew and rot that grew in the summer no matter how hard you scrubbed it, and the damp patches that had frozen over were still slightly slimy. But the walls and the trapdoor itself were made of impenetrable stone, and I was safe.

I listened as my father’s scraping steps grew louder until they stopped right above me, shifting his weight with little creaks. _“Why won’t you...come out...”_

I stayed silent, heart in my throat, frozen still. There was a dry exhale, and the crawl space was filled with the chill of frostbreath, but the trapdoor shielded me from any lethal cold.

_I’m safe. I won’t be afraid. I won’t._

I was terrified.

_“...Why are you...scared? There is nothing...to fear.”_ There was a hoarse sigh. _“I can’t hurt you...more than you already have been…”_

I didn’t dare reply.

_“Don’t...do this to me. Stop...please stop…come out.”_

I held my breath.

_“...We’re all...going to die. Why not today…?”_

Everything was silent, save for the guttural wheeze of my father’s breathing.

And then something slammed into the top of the trapdoor, scaring a small yelp out of me. The noise was followed by louder bangs, and I shivered uncontrollably, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes.

_“It won’t matter...when you disappear. You’re...nobody.”_

I’d gone lightheaded and weak, and I covered my mouth with a claw to silence my hiccuping sobs.

_Why? Why won’t this end?_

There was a hollow roar and more hammering against the trapdoor. Then there was an echoing scream, and a moment of heavy silence.

_“I know what you think you are. And I know...that you’re nothing. No matter what you do...you’ll be forgotten.”_ There was a pause. _“You’ll die in memory. We all will. We’re nothing…”_

I covered my ears.

_It isn’t true. It isn’t. There’s a reason I survived._   
_There has to be a reason._

My father snarled softly, the sound like a knife dragging across stone. _“...The future...is out of our claws from the start. There is no need...to run. We’re all going to die anyway...”_

“I’ll survive.” It was a wish heard by no one.

_“We’re all going to die.”_

Then there was only profound quiet, and I cried myself to sleep, imprisoned by cold darkness and frozen tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm quite busy with a number of things and the school year is just about to start up for me. I'm not sure if I'll post right away again, this might have to wait until I get into the swing of things again. See y'all sometime!
> 
> -Sunder


End file.
